Successful procurement of 50 pancreatic grafts using a simple and fast technique

The procurement of a pancreatic graft must be as meticulous as possible and with minimum handling and blood loss so that the transplant procedure can be carried out with no complications, We describe the technique we are usin g in our institution which, contrary to others, requires that most of the d issection for donor pancreatectomy be done after crossclamping and intravas cular flushing of the abdominal organs. We have performed 50 consecutive pr ocurements of pancreatic grafts using this technique. All grafts were succe ssfully transplanted with no evidence of posttransplant primary non-functio n or graft pancreatitis. We believe that this technique is faster and minim ises handling of the pancreas and blood loss resulting in excellent posttra nsplant metabolic function of the pancreatic graft.