Pancreas Transplantation
Simultaneous pancreas/kidney (SPK) transplantation is the preferred treatment for patients suffering from the secondary and often life-threatening complications associated with Type I diabetes, including:  Nephropathy
Cardiovascular disease
Peripheral vascular disease
Retinopathy
Gastropathy
Peripheral neuropathy
Simultaeous pancreas/kidney transplantation eliminates the need for dialysis and exogenous insulin, offering superior metabolic control. This is a life-changing procedure for fairly young patients who are insulin dependent and require dialysis. This procedure can not only improves the patient’s quality of life, but also slows the progression of secondary complications of Type I diabetes, perhaps even improving or reversing them. Other benefits of the simultaneous pancreas/kidney procedure include improvement in the lipid profile and protection of the transplanted kidney from the effects of hyperglycemia. Not all Type I diabetics are appropriate candidates for SPK transplantation. Patients who benefit most from the procedure are those who have signs of advancing secondary complications, significant swings between severe hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia and patients with hypoglycemic unawareness. Because the kidney and pancreas come from the same donor in SPK transplantation, kidney function serves as a marker for pancreas rejection. For that reason, pancreas transplant alone (PA) procedures are not as common as SPK or pancreas after kidney (PAK) transplantation. | 
