Pancreas Transplantation in Type 1 Diabetes

This position statement presents the recommendations of the American Diabetes Association on pancreas transplantation in patients with type 1 diabetes. The recommendations are based on the American Diabetes Association’s technical review on “Pancreas and Islet Transplantation for Patients With Diabetes Mellitus,” which should be consulted for further information (1).

Successful pancreas transplantation has been demonstrated to be efficacious in significantly improving the quality of life of people with diabetes, primarily by eliminating the need for exogenous insulin, frequent daily blood glucose measurements, and many of the dietary restrictions imposed by the disorder. Transplantation can also eliminate the acute complications commonly experienced by patients with type 1 diabetes (e.g., hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia). Pancreas transplantation is only partially successful in reversing the long-term renal and neural complications of diabetes. However, this procedure is usually performed after 20 …