Pancreas Transplant
Alternate Names : Pancreatic Transplant, Transplantation of the Pancreas
What happens later at home?
At home, the recipient can expect a slow but steady recovery. Walking is encouraged to help prevent pneumonia and other lung complications. Walking also helps the person to regain strength. Heavy lifting and straining should be avoided for several weeks. Driving is permitted once the incision heals.
What are the potential complications after the procedure?
There are several complications that can affect a recipient of a pancreas transplant. Some of these can occur right after the surgery and others can occur at any time for the rest of the person's life. Complications include:
infection. Immunosuppressant medications make a person more vulnerable to infection. Some infections are minor but others can be life threatening.
major bleeding. This is rare following pancreas transplantation. However, there are many small blood vessels in the donor pancreas that need to be tied off during the operation. These vessels can bleed. Sometimes a second operation is needed to remove any blood clots and control the bleeding.
clotting of major vessels. Sometimes the major artery or vein that supplies blood to the pancreas becomes blocked, or clots. This can lead to sudden pancreas failure, and the new pancreas will need to be taken out right away.
rejection. The body's normal response to a transplanted organ is to reject it. Even though the person takes medications to prevent rejection, most recipients will have one or more episodes of rejection. These are treated by increasing the dose of the medication or switching to a different medication. If the pancreas transplant fails due to rejection, the person will need to resume taking insulin shots.
cancer. This is another long-term problem with immunosuppressant medications. The most common cancers that develop are skin cancer and lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.
|
Previous section
