Retrospective Analysis of Pancreas Transplants in Poland in Years 1998-2015

Transplantation of the pancreas is an established method for the treatment of complicated diabetes mellitus. As the numbers of diabetic patients increase so does the need for efficient treatment methods. Despite significant perioperative risk and complications related to immunosuppression, pancreas transplant remains the best therapeutic option for selected patients.

The analysis was based on the comparison of characteristics of all organ donors and recipients in years 1998 to 2015. The collected data were divided into 2 periods to facilitate identification of populational changes.

The total number of pancreas transplants in Poland was 139 in years 1998 to 2006 and 268 in years 2007 to 2015. The largest differences revealed by the comparison of donor-related variables in both periods were those related to the doses of pressor amines, duration of circulatory arrest, and duration of stay at the intensive care unit. The critical finding consisted in the improvement of short-term survival of recipients and organs being observed in contrast to the surprising lack of improvement in long-term survival. Reduced likelihood of transplantation success was observed already in overweight patients (body mass index 25-29.99 kg/m²).

No significant changes were observed with regard to pancreas transplant outcomes over the period of many years. Transplantation success is determined by 1-year survival of the organ, and the therapeutic success is measured by long-term disease-free survival of the patient. In the era of rapid advances in numerous areas of medicine, the lack of significant extension of patient survival times warrants a closer look of our knowledge on pancreas transplants.