Coronavirus: pancreatic transplant update
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, please read our advice and information before attending the service.
What we do
Patients from all over the UK come to us to see if they are suitable for a pancreas transplant.
We usually carry out a kidney transplant at the same time as a pancreas transplant. The advantages of the double transplant are that it:
- frees patients from the restrictions of being diabetic
- improves many problems related to long-term diabetes e.g. nausea and vomiting due to gastric autonomic dysfunction, stabilises eye disease and peripheral neuropathy
- provides better long term kidney function
- improves the patient's quality of life.
Our experience
Guy's has one of the longest running and most active transplant programmes in the UK. Our pancreas transplant programme is supported by seven consultant surgeons and our results compare favourably with many international centres. Patient, pancreas and kidney survival after 10 years is 92%, 88% and 73% respectively.
The results of pancreas transplants are published by the organ donation and transplantation directorate of NHS Blood and Transplant. From here you can compare our results to the other seven hospitals that offer pancreatic transplants in the UK.
The future
The programme is growing with our experience of using non-heart beating donors and our close links with the King's College Hospital islet cell transplant programme.