Pediatric Abdominal Organ Transplantation

Abstract

The objective of this article is to provide a brief and concise review about the history, indications, surgical technical challenges, post-transplant complications, and overall outcomes of pediatric abdominal organ transplantation (kidney transplant (KT), liver transplant (LT), and intestinal transplant (IT)). Pediatric abdominal organ transplantation (KT, LT, IT) has evolved over the last 50 years to emerge as a successful option for children suffering from end-stage renal disease, end-stage liver disease, liver malignancy, disabling metabolic disease, acute liver failure, and life-threatening intestinal failure. However, pediatric abdominal organ transplantation requires a fundamentally different approach from adult abdominal organ transplantation due to differences in underlying indications for transplant, smaller pediatric recipient size, and various growth stages of childhood. Excellent short-term and good long-term outcomes have been achieved in pediatric KT, LT, and IT recipient when compared with adult counterparts. Further research to develop strategies to induce immunologic tolerance of allografts and diagnose/treat chronic allograft rejection is required in order to continue to improve overall survival of pediatric abdominal organ transplant recipients.