Duke offers experience and expertise in kidney transplants for patients with end-stage kidney disease, as well as kidney and pancreas transplants for patients with type I diabetes and kidney failure.

Duke performs combined kidney and pancreas transplants as well as kidney transplant followed six months later by a pancreas transplant. Duke offers pancreas-only transplants on a case-by-case basis. However, these transplants are uncommon.

Learn about the referral process for the Duke kidney and pancreas transplant program.

Surgery

Kidney transplant surgery itself takes about four hours. Patients usually stay in the hospital for four to six days. You will need to return to Duke frequently for checkups.

The kidney and pancreas transplant surgery takes about six to eight hours. These patients generally stay in the hospital seven to 10 days.

Kidney Paired Donation Program

The Duke Kidney Paired Donation Program assists donor and recipient pairs who are incompatible or poorly matched in finding another donor and recipient pair with whom they can exchange kidneys to enable better matching, allowing a transplant to take place.

Learn more about the Kidney Paired Donation Program in the video below. 

About Duke Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Service

Duke is the leading kidney and pancreas program in the Carolinas and Virginia. With one of the nation’s most experienced pediatric renal transplant programs, Duke has special expertise in transplanting patients with congenital kidney conditions.

In 1965, Duke University Hospital was the first institution in North Carolina to perform a kidney transplant. Since that time Duke has continued to be a leader in the field of kidney transplants. To date, more than 3,000 patients have received a kidney transplant at Duke.

More than 30 percent of these patients transplanted have received a kidney from a living donor. In 2009 Duke surgeons pioneered the use of single-incision laparoscopic surgery for removing kidneys from living donors, a technique that has since become the standard of care at Duke.

Many of our patients participate in clinical research trials of new medication regimens to prevent rejection and foster long-term function of the transplanted organ.

Transplant Coordinators

• Carolyn Boone, RN, MSN
• Leslie Hicks, RN, MSN
• Vanessa Neal, RN, BSN
• Judy Smith, RN, BSN
• Erynn Rathburn, RN, BSN

Transplant Social Workers

• Jessica Farrel, MSW, LCSW
• Jennifer Harrill, MSW, LCSW-P
• Donna Ryan, MSW, LCSW

Study Coordinator

• Sherrie Jarvis, RN

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Berkoben, Michael S.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Brennan, Todd V.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
• Butterly, David W.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Coffman, Thomas M.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
  • Cell Biology
  • Immunology
• Collins, Bradley H.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
• Ellis, Matthew J.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
  • Surgery
• Foreman, John W.
  • Pediatrics / Pediatrics-Nephrology
• Foster, Mary
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Greenberg, Arthur
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Kovalik, Eugene C.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Martin, Abigail E.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
  • Pediatrics / Pediatrics-Chairman Office
• Middleton, John P.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Ravindra, Kadiyala V.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
• Smith, Stephen R.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Nephrology
• Sudan, Debra L.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
  • Pediatrics / Pediatrics-Chairman Office
• Vikraman, Deepak
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
• Wigfall, Delbert R.
  • Pediatrics / Pediatrics-Nephrology

Locations

This service is available at:

• Duke University Hospital
  2301 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27710