Duke offers comprehensive evaluation and care for patients who need small bowel transplants. We offer isolated small bowel transplants and multi-organ transplants that include the small bowel, liver, and pancreas. The Duke Small Bowel Transplant Program is among the nation’s highest volume programs of its kind-and the only one in the region (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee). Duke’s program is among fewer than 20 active programs in the U. S. and one of only a handful in the country serving both adult and pediatric patients.
 
To date, Duke surgeons had performed 14 small bowel transplants-eleven in pediatric patients,  three in adults-since the program was established in 2009-six in 2011 alone. With a 100 percent one-year patient survival rate, Duke’s rate exceeds the (UNOS) United Network for Organ Sharing’s 65-70 percent national average.

The Duke Small Bowel Transplant Center uses a team approach to care for the patient throughout evaluation, transplant and recovery processes. The small bowel transplant team is made up of a diverse group of health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacist, dieticians, and medical psychologists. The transplant team has excellent experience in the management of patients with short bowel syndrome and have trained at the most experienced centers for small bowel transplantation in the world.

Duke’s small bowel transplant team will help determine if a small bowel transplant is the right treatment for you or your child. If and when you become a transplant patient, this same group of professionals will take care of you.

Surgery

You can expect to be discharged from the hospital within two to four weeks after your operation, but you will need to remain in Durham for at least another six weeks for frequent follow-up visits.

Remember that each person is different, and your recovery depends on the specific way your body heals or the development of complications.

Referrals

Adult: Call the Transplant Center  1-800-249-5864 Option #3 , or 919-613-7777 Option #3

Pediatric: Please call the Duke Transplant Center (919) 668-2466 David Cousino RN or (919) 684-2560 Kristen Shutz RN  with any questions or if there is additional information we can provide to facilitate a referral. Visit the Duke Children's Hospital site for more information on general pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.

Transplant Coordinators

• Julie Hudson, RN, MSN
• David Cousino, RN, BSN (Pediatrics)
• Kristen Shutz, RN, BSN  Pediatric Nurse Clinician 

Transplant Social Workers

• Karli Pontillo, MSW, LCSW
• Shani Foy-Watson, MSW, LCSW

Nutritionists

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Brady, Carla W.
  • Medicine / Medicine - Gastroenterology
• Ravindra, Kadiyala V.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
• Reinstein, Leon J. "Yul"
  • Pediatrics / Gastroentorology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• Sudan, Debra L.
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant
  • Pediatrics / Pediatrics-Chairman Office
• Vikraman, Deepak
  • Surgery / Abdominal Transplant

Locations

This service is available at:

• General and Thoracic Surgery, Transplant
  Duke Clinic 2B/2C, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Durham, NC 27710