Living Donor Intestine Transplants

POSTED: Wednesday, November 18, 2009

UPDATED: 12:47 am EST November 18, 2009

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A transplant is the last option for people who suffer from a failing small intestine. The tube helps the body digest and absorb nutrients in food. Without it, many of the organs in the body die. Relying on deceased donors means long waiting lists, so doctors are turning to the living for help. One woman found a new life, thanks to her sister.

Leslie Richter is in for a follow-up two months after life-saving surgery. Her journey started with stomach pains. That turned into a frightening discovery -- her small intestine was twisted, cutting off blood flow.

"My intestine was completely necrotic and black, and at that time they told my husband that I wasn't going to make it," Leslie said.

"Had this happened three to five years ago, I would have lost her," Leslie's husband, Eric, said.

Leslie needed an intestine transplant. Instead of turning to a deceased donor, surgeons turned to her sister, a better match.

In a nine-hour surgery, Rainer Gruessner, M.D., chief of transplantation at the University of Arizona in Tucson, took part of Leslie's sister's intestine and attached it to what was left of Leslie's organ

"We removed about six of the 25 to 26 feet of bowel that the sister had and gave that to Leslie, so that Leslie has about six feet of small bowel, maybe seven feet with her remaining small bowel," Dr. Gruessner said.

A healthy person can live comfortably with only two to three feet of their small intestine. Studies show living donor organs last about twice as long as deceased donor organs.

"It has saved my life," Leslie said. "I don't know how people live like this."

After eight months on only IV nutrition, Leslie's able to eat again.

"It's just amazing," Leslie said. "It's just brought me a new life."

Thanks to her sister and her surgery, Leslie has a second chance.

Exactly what causes intestines to get twisted? Doctors aren't sure. But without a transplant, these patients often face a life where they can only receive IV nutrition, putting them at a higher risk of liver failure and infection. Though Dr. Gruessner says the survival rate is 70 to 80 percent, intestinal transplant is still considered risky and is only available at a handful of U.S. medical centers.

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