The current status of total pancreatectomy and islet autotransplantation for chronic pancreatitis        LIU Yong-feng,CHENG Ying.Department of Organ Transplantation,the First  Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Shenyang110001, China
Abstract   Total pancreatectomy or near-total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (IAT) is considered as the effective treatment for chronic pancreatitis (CP) with intractable pain. The main rationale was to relieve the pain of CP in patients in whom other measures had failed and, to preserve beta-cell mass and insulin secretory capacity, to prevent or minimize the otherwise inevitable surgical diabetes. IATs should been done after resection for benign pancreatic processes. With the progress of the islet isolation technique, clinical outcome of IAT has been improved significantly. Because IAT is safe, free of immunodepressant, and insulin independent to some extent, IAT always should be considered the primary surgical option for patients who have pancreatic resection of benign lesions.