Intestinal transplantation: 1997 report of the international registry. Intestinal Transplant Registry

Small bowel transplantation is an evolving procedure. We reviewed the world experience since 1985 to determine the current status of this procedure.

All of the known intestinal transplant programs were invited to contribute to an international registry using a standardized report form.

Thirty-three intestinal transplant programs provided data on 273 transplants in 260 patients who were transplanted on or before February 28, 1997. The number of procedures per year has increased at a linear rate since 1990, with 58 transplants performed in 1996. Two-thirds of the recipients were children or teenagers. The short gut syndrome was the most common indication for transplantation. The types of transplants included the small bowel with or without the colon (41%); the intestine and liver (48%); and multivisceral grafts (11%). The 1-year graft/patient survival for transplants performed after February 1995 was 55%/69% for intestinal grafts; 63%/66% for small bowel and liver grafts; and 63%/63% for multivisceral grafts. Transplants since 1991 and programs that had performed at least 10 transplants had significantly higher graft survival rates. Seventy-seven percent of the current survivors had stopped total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and resumed oral nutrition.

Transplantation has become a lifesaving procedure for (1) patients with intestinal failure who cannot be maintained on total parenteral nutrution and (2) patients who require abdominal evisceration to completely remove locally aggressive tumors. The 5-year survival rate of intestinal transplantation with large series is comparable to lung transplantation.