[Four years of simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantations in Finland]

The first simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation in Finland was performed in 2010. On a global scale, already more than 45,000 pancreatic transplantations have been performed. Pancreatic transplantation restores the blood glucose level to normal, but only at the cost of possible adverse effects due to surgery and anti-rejection drugs. Based on our experience with 24 patients, this operation has met the expectations and shown that simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation is a good alternative for selected type 1 diabetics instead of mere kidney transplantation. In the future we aim to conduct approximately 15 combined transplantations per year.