2006 Annual Report (PDF)

The Vanderbilt Division of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation is one of the oldest and most experienced kidney transplant programs in the United States, having performed over 2800 transplants since its inception in 1962. Surgeons perform cadaver and living donor kidney transplants, simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplants, and pancreas transplants alone. The Division was also the first transplant program in Tennessee to introduce the minimally invasive technique of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy for living donor kidney transplants.

Transplants are performed both at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Nashville VA. Surgeons work closely with a multidisciplinary team of nephrologists, transplant coordinators and nurses, social workers, financial counselors, and other physician specialists to guide patients and their referring physicians through every stage of the transplant process. Members of the Division are also active in clinical research projects that provide the benefits of the latest medical and surgical advances and cutting-edge research for patients with end-stage renal disease.

All surgeons in the Division also specialize in providing dialysis access for patients with end-stage renal disease. Our surgical expertise includes creation of new arteriovenous fistulas and prosthetic grafts, placement of tunneled central venous dialysis catheters, placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters, and repair of all types of urgent access problems including fistula or graft thrombosis, infection, or aneurysms.