Questions & Answers About Pancreas Transplants

What happens when the pancreas stops making insulin?

When the pancreas does not produce adequate insulin, diabetes can result. With diabetes, high levels of sugar build up in the blood, often leading to serious complications involving nearly all tissues of the body. Short-term complications can include hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and ketoacidosis (build up of acids in the blood). Untreated, these complications can be fatal. Even with insulin treatment, long-term complications include heart and blood vessel disease, kidney disease, blindness, and nerve damage to the legs and feet. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to death.

Life-sustaining therapy for diabetes involves supplying the insulin the pancreas cannot produce. This treatment is given through multiple insulin shots. Even with these injections, blood sugar levels can remain high or become too low, and are not controlled as well as by a normal pancreas.

Diabetes can also be treated with pancreas transplantation. When successfully transplanted, the pancreas produces steady levels of insulin, prevents high levels of sugar in the blood, and halts the progression of the long-term problems associated with diabetes.

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