Liver and pancreas transplantation

The expanding role of organ transplantation presents many challenges to the multi-disciplinary transplant team. Donor organs are a limited resource, with a gap between the number of suitable donated organs and patients requiring organ transplantation. Initiatives aimed at increasing public awareness, non-heart-beating donation, refined retrieval teams and live organ donation may increase potential donor numbers. Donor organs are viewed as a national resource with allocation based on clinical need. In this article we review the basic principles involved in managing liver and pancreatic transplant patients in the perioperative period.