Pancreatic transplantation for diabetic patients with end-stage renal failure: a brief review

Renal transplant, undoubtedly, is the most physiological renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). It enhances patient’s quality of life and improves expectancy when compared with dialysis therapy. However, diabetic kidney transplant recipients can have progressive diabetic nephropathy in renal allograft and other complications of diabetes resulting in relatively inferior patient and graft survival in comparison with nondiabetic patients with ESRD. Currently, the pancreatic-kidney transplant has proven to be a very good option in selected patients with ESRD with type-1 diabetes mellitus, that is, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and further smaller number of patients with ESRD with type-2 diabetes mellitus, that is, noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The aim of pancreatic transplantation is to enhance the quality of life, improve allograft and patient survival and to reverse some of the microvascular complications associated with diabetes.