Simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation in diabetes with renal failure: the gold standard?

Simultaneous Pancreas and Kidney (SPK) transplantation in the 21st century is a proven therapeutic intervention for diabetes with renal failure. Although it is a major invasive procedure, successful transplantation leads to an overall improvement in the quality of life of the recipient, freedom from insulin and dialysis, along with stabilisation and improvement in several of the multi-system complications associated with long-term diabetes. It is also associated with improved longevity when compared to diabetics who have had a kidney transplant alone. The combined transplant could be considered a curative procedure albeit at the expense of long-term immunosuppression. In essence, successful SPK transplantation may be considered the gold standard against which all other therapeutic interventions may be measured in diabetes with end-stage renal failure.