New surgical approaches to pancreas transplantation
Background. The main controversial technical issues of pancreas transplantation are kinds of diverting pancreatic secret from the transplanted organ, as well as methods of its arterial reconstruction to ensure adequate and full blood supply of the graft. The article describes our experience in introducing two new technical variants of pancreas transplantation into clinical practice: with stump-free duodenal drainage and with its isolated blood supply by the splenic artery. Materials and methods. Our proposed operation with stump-free duodenal drainage of pancreatic secret using the button-technique method allows to minimize complications caused by duodenal injury and to reduce the antigenic load. The hardware method of forming the intestinal anastomosis allows to create a uniform compression along the line of anastomosis, provides strength and tightness of the seam, accurate tissue comparison, and the ability to adjust the closure of the brackets contributes to reliable hemostasis of tissues of different thickness. Results and discussion. The modified technique of pancreas transplantation with isolated blood supply through the splenic artery can be used both when it is impossible to perform the generally accepted arterial reconstruction of the graft, and as a routine procedure, since adequate and sufficient hemoperfusion of all pancreatoduodenal graft's parts with its isolated blood supply through the splenic artery is justified and possible due to the presence of a developed system of collaterals between the splenic and superior mesenteric arteries.