[Living-donor intestinal transplantation]

Due to advances in surgical techniques, perioperative care, and new immunosuppressive agents, intestinal transplantation has become a valid therapeutic choice for chronic intestinal failure. Intestinal transplantation has been performed most commonly using deceased donation, while less than 2% of which have been from living donation. Living donor intestinal transplantation obtaining a segmental intestinal graft, usually from close relatives. Preliminary results show that acute/chronic rejection rates, postoperative opportunistic infections, and graft versus host disease are significantly reduced after living donor intestinal transplantation, contributing to improved graft and patient survivals. Due to a severe shortage of organ donation, especially in children, living donor intestinal transplantation has increasingly become an important treatment option for patients with chronic intestinal failure in China.