Impact of pancreatic venous drainage site on long-term patient and graft outcome in simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation

The impact of portal or systemic venous pancreas graft drainage on patient and graft outcome remains controversial. In the present study, the impact of venous drainage type on long-term patient and graft survival is assessed. From July 1996 to December 2002 80 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants were enrolled into a prospective study: 44 received a pancreas allograft with portal (P-SPK group) and 36 with systemic venous drainage (S-SPK group). Enteric exocrine drainage was performed in all recipients receiving the same immunosuppressive treatment. At one yr, the patient survival rates were 91.7% and 95.5% both for S-SPK and P-SPK groups, respectively; no significant difference in survival was shown at any time point of the follow-up. The one-, three-, five-, and eight-yr pancreas survival rates were 75%, 60.6%, 56.7%, and 44%, respectively in the S-SPK group compared to 88.6%, 84.1%, 78.4%, and 31.3% in the P-SPK group. The one-, three-, five-, and eight-yr kidney survival rates were 91.7%, 78.15%, 74.1%, and 57.9%, respectively in the S-SPK group compared to 93.2%, 88.6%, 78.4%, and 38.9% in the P-SPK group. Comparing the two groups, no significant difference was shown in the total number of surgical complications as well as in the number of each complication. No significant difference in long-term outcomes between the two groups was shown, even if in S-SPK group a higher incidence of pancreas graft loss has been reported and it was in part correlated to a higher number of graft thromboses.