Background: Providing access to pancreas transplant in a rural center with an aging population and low crime rate can be challenging. However, the patients served live very distant from metropolitain programs and would have even greater difficulty accessing this level of care. We have incorporated the routine usage of pancreata from Donation After Circulatory Death.

Design: We performed a retrospective database review of patients who underwent pancreas transplantation of any form at our institution between the years of 2004 and 2011. Immunosuppression consisted of anti-thymocyte globulin, tacrolimus, mycophenolate and low dose prednisone.

Results: 54 patients received pancreas transplants of which 10 were from DCD and 44 were from DBD. There were no significant differences in patient (Table 1) and recipient characteristics.

Most patients, regardless of donor group, received a simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant. One pancreas from each group was lost within 24 hours of transplantation due to acute thrombosis. There have been no recipient deaths in the DCD group. Two patients died within the first year in the DBD group: 1 PTA from a cardiac event and 1 SPK from PTLD. 1,3 and 5 year patient/graft survival was 90% 90% for the DCD group and 95%/93%, 95%/91%, 95%/91%. Kidney function was similar in both groups.

Conclusion: Even is small volume centers, DCD pancreata can be used indistinguishably from DBD to improve patient access.

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