Progressive functional adaptation of segmental bowel graft from living related donor

Transplantation. 2001 Feb 27;71(4):569-71. doi: 10.1097/00007890-200102270-00014.

Abstract

We report a patient with short gut syndrome successfully treated with living related bowel transplantation. A 27-year-old Caucasian man was referred after traumatic loss of almost the entire bowel from the third portion of duodenum to the sigmoid colon. His HLA-identical sister volunteered as a donor. A 200-cm segment of ileum was successfully transplanted under tacrolimus-based immunosuppression. The posttransplant course was uneventful, without rejection or infectious complication. Total parenteral nutrition was discontinued 1 week posttransplant. At 6 months the patient had returned to his preinjury weight. Water and D-xylose absorption as well as fecal fat studies were markedly abnormal 1 month posttransplant but normalized by 6 months. The donor recovery was uneventful. A well-matched segmental ileal graft from living donor can provide complete rehabilitation for patients with short gut syndrome. We documented a progressive functional adaptation of the ileal graft, resulting in normal absorption by 5 months posttransplantation.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Humans
  • Ileum / transplantation*
  • Living Donors
  • Male
  • Parenteral Nutrition
  • Postoperative Period
  • Short Bowel Syndrome / rehabilitation
  • Short Bowel Syndrome / surgery
  • Transplantation, Homologous / physiology