Transplant Benefits

People who suffer from type 1 diabetes are dependent on insulin to manage their disease because their own pancreas does not produce it. Often, they can suffer from severe complications due to their disease. By transplanting a healthy insulin-producing pancreas into their bodies, they can often stop taking insulin and avoid the complications that come from type 1 diabetes. There are several benefits of pancreas transplantation:

  • Elimination of severe blood sugar fluctuations
  • Improved quality of life
  • Normal diet
  • Increased activity level
  • Diabetic complications such as cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, and eye disease may also be prevented or improved.
  • Simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplant patients often enjoy a longer life for their kidney transplant compared to a kidney alone.

About Us

Intermountain Transplant Services performed the first pancreas transplant in the Western United States in 1986 and has helped shape the future of pancreas transplantation as a treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Since the inception of our program, we've performed approximately 230 transplants. Intermountain's Pancreas Transplant Program has much shorter waiting times than the national average and provides better one-year outcomes.

Our success is due to the efforts of our transplant team: transplant nephrologists, surgeons, transplant coordinators, critical care specialists, pathologists, radiologists, infectious disease experts, and skilled nursing staff.

Information for Pancreas Recipients

Our Pancreas Transplant Process

Find information about our pancreas transplant process. We provide pancreas transplants both from living donors and deceased donors.