Simultaneous Pancreas Kidney Transplant (SPK)

If health allows extensive surgery, a person who suffers from diabetes and has developed kidney failure may prefer to become insulin-independent and dialysis-free in one surgery by undergoing a simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPK) transplant.  A successful pancreas transplant can prevent a simultaneously transplanted kidney from recurrent disease. 

If extensive surgery is not appropriate, a simultaneous islet and kidney transplant from a deceased donor is a possible option. Candidates for an SPK have chronic renal failure and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. 

With a segment of pancreas, both organs can come from a living donor. An alternative is to simultaneously transplant the kidney from a living donor and a pancreas from a deceased donor, should one be available on the day a living donor kidney transplant is scheduled, or if the kidney donor is on call to come in when a pancreas is available. The wait for a deceased donor kidney, with or without a pancreas, can be years, so a living donor for the kidney is a big advantage.

Feel free to read Lee Kulick's story.  Lee had a simultaneous kidney pancreas transplant.  To obtain more information about this type of procedure, please contact The Transplant Center at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, at 1-800-328-5465.