Small Bowel Transplant at the Center for Intestinal Care and Transplant
The Center for Intestinal Care and Transplant at MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute, the only program in the Nation's capital and one of only a few Medicare-approved centers nationwide, offers new and successful surgical and medical options for adults and children suffering from disabling and life-threatening intestinal disorders and liver disease. Once considered experimental, intestinal transplantation is now an important surgical therapy.
Our small bowel transplant team manages about 100 small bowel transplants a year. 60-70 of those are for children 18 and younger.
About the Center for Intestinal Care and Transplant at MedStar Georgetown
Patients with small bowel disease may need to consider a small bowel transplant or intestinal surgery. In a small bowel transplant, the diseased portion of the small intestine is removed and replaced with a healthy small intestine from a donor. This procedure can be lifesaving for patients with irreversible intestinal failure that has become life-threatening. Learn more about small bowel disease.
Why choose MedStar Georgetown for my small bowel transplant?
- Expertise: Our small bowel transplant team manages about 20 small bowel transplant a year. 8-13 of those are for children 18 and younger.
- Teamwork: our staff displays remarkable teamwork and offers patients the best possible care from a Transplant Team of different health professionals.
- Availability: a transplant surgeon is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to evaluate organs for potential transplantation
- Outcomes: Adult patient one-year survival rate is 94.4 percent, compared to 79.45 percent nationally. Pediatric patient one-year survival is 90.48 percent in contrast to 86.08 nationally.
Intestinal Transplant Outcomes Unequaled
MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute’s intestinal transplant program achieved a perfect, one-year survival rate for both adult and pediatric intestinal transplant patients for calendar year 2014.
Equally noteworthy, between July 1, 2012, and December 31, 2014, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) reported MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute’s one-year patient survival rates at 94.4 percent for adults and 90.48 percent for pediatric patients. By comparison, the U.S. average observed rates from the same study were 79.45 percent for adults and 86.08 percent for children.
| MedStar Georgetown | U.S. Average | |
| Adult Patient Survival | 94.4% | 79.45% |
| Adult Graft Survival | 95.2% | 68.2% |
| Pediatric Patient Survival | 90.48% | 86.08% |
| Pediatric Graft Survival | 94.7% | 81.7% |
Evaluation - Small Bowel Transplant
Evaluation is a necessary stage of the transplant process as it is used to determine a patient’s eligibility for the procedure. MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute’s intestinal transplant team conducts a thorough evaluation that covers the span of three to five days. During the assessment the team reviews the patient's medical history, conducts a physical assessment, and performs series of tests.
Learn more about the small bowel transplant evaluation process.
Small Bowel Transplant Process
During a small bowel transplant, the small intestine is surgically removed and replaced with a healthy organ. The blood vessels of the patient and donor intestine are connected to establish a blood supply to the transplanted intestine. The donor intestine is then linked with the patient's gastrointestinal tract.
Ileostomy
An ileostomy is performed to allow body waste to pass directly out of the body and empty into a pouch. It surgically creates an opening through which the ileum, a section of the small intestine, is brought up through the abdominal wall. Most patients are able to have the ileostomy closed, in time.
Small Bowel Transplant Recovery
Most small bowel recipients spend several weeks in the hospital. Physicians closely monitor small bowel recipients for signs of organ rejection, infection, or other complications.
Learn more about small bowel transplant recovery.
