Pancreas transplant

To be considered for pancreas transplant evaluation at Penn Medicine, you or your provider must submit a referral through our secure referral portal.

After a referral from your provider, we schedule a one-day evaluation appointment. You’ll meet with members of our transplant team. We explain the transplant process and answer any questions you have. You’ll undergo several medical tests, and we’ll carefully review your medical history.

Our team then meets to review your evaluation in detail. If we determine that a pancreas transplant is right for you and you want to proceed, we place you on the pancreas transplant waiting list.

We submit your details to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a national organization that coordinates distribution of donor organs by region. Most of the pancreas transplants we perform are part of dual transplant pancreas-kidney procedures. The average wait time for a new kidney and pancreas is about one to two years. The wait time for a new pancreas only may be longer.

We carefully monitor your condition as you wait, and help you take steps to stay as healthy as possible. When a potential donor pancreas or kidney-pancreas pair becomes available, we contact you immediately. Your nurse coordinator will give you instructions to come to the hospital for pancreas transplant surgery.

We understand the emotional challenge of waiting for a new organ; we’re here for you with support and resources that make your time on the waiting list easier to manage.