Overview
- The hospital disclosed this milestone in mid-June, saying the surgery was performed in early March and the patient was discharged 16 days after the operation.
- Surgeons at the Unidad de Trasplante de Órganos Abdominales removed the need for separate procedures by implanting the intestine and pancreas as a single composite graft, a technique the team says eases vascular connections between the organs.
- The 46-year-old patient, Juan Jesús Martínez, had long-standing intestinal failure after massive bowel infarction and poorly controlled diabetes and is now recovering at home, eating normally and gaining weight.
- Hospital 12 de Octubre credits decades of transplant experience and a strong donor supply for enabling the complex operation, noting its role as a national reference center and recent donor activity that supports high-volume work.
- Medical leaders caution that global experience with this exact approach is very limited, peer-reviewed results are not yet published, and longer-term outcomes will determine whether the technique becomes a wider option for similar patients.