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Transplantation
The Transplant Program of the Department of Surgery is located at Jewish Hospital and is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for patients in need of liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. Our multidisciplinary team of experienced healthcare professionals seamlessly works together toward the singular goal of providing the best medical care for individuals suffering with organ failure.
This team approach gives us the ability to offer customized, comprehensive care throughout the course of a patient’s illness.
Transplant Team
Our Transplant Team includes transplant surgeons, hepatologists, nephrologists, coordinators, psychiatrists, social workers, nutritionists, financial coordinators, medical consultants, and administrators who work closely with the operating room, critical care and medical-surgical units at Jewish Hospital.
Regional Referral Center
In association with the University of Louisville Department of Medicine, the Transplant Center serves as a regional referral center for the management of organ failure secondary to diseases of the liver, kidney, and pancreas.
Islet Cell Transplantation
Started in 2015, the Islet Cell Transplantation program offers treatment for chronic pancreatitis. The only program of its kind in this region of the country it is one of the only programs in the world capable of consistently producing high quality islets. The program is composed of an expert team of scientists and physicians with years of experience in the field, thus making the University of Louisville a world leader in the area of islet cell transplantation.
Setting Records
Since the beginning of the Liver Transplant Program, Jewish Hospital has performed nearly 600 liver transplants, achieving a state record of 54 liver transplants, the most transplants by any program in Kentucky’s history in 2009. The kidney transplant program performed nearly 100 kidney transplant procedures from both deceased and living donors during that same year. The kidney program performs living kidney donations via a minimally invasive, laparoscopic approach. In 2015, we started an Islet Cell Transplant program that successfully performed the first Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Auto-Transplantation (TP-IAT) procedure in Kentucky. In its first year, the Islet Cell Transplant program performed nine TP-IAT procedures.
In addition to transplantation, the surgeons in the Division of Transplantation are skilled in the surgical management of disorders of the bile ducts and liver including the management of complex bile duct injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and malignancies of the bile duct and liver. These disorders can be managed either through traditional open surgical techniques or a minimally invasive, laparoscopic approach.