Rationale of Living Donor Small Bowel Transplantation

Living donor intestinal transplantation refers to transplantation of a segmental small-intestine graft procured from a healthy living donor (most commonly a biologically related family member) and implanted into a recipient with intestinal failure. The rationale is to provide a timely, elective graft when waiting for a deceased donor intestine is unsafe, particularly in small children where size matching is critical, and to leverage practical advantages of planned surgery such as predictable timing, short ischemia, and potential immunologic compatibility; these benefits are expanded later in the article.