Types of bowel transplant

There are different types of bowel transplant, depending on whether other organs need to be transplanted at the same time.

Key points

It is common for the bowel to be transplanted together with other organs
If it's needed, the small bowel can be transplanted with a donated liver, stomach, pancreas, large bowel or a donated kidney

How is the bowel transplanted?

The bowel is flushed with preservation fluid and removed from the deceased donor. The bowel is then kept cold and transported in an ice-box to the transplant centre. After the recipient's own bowel has been removed, the donated bowel is then attached to the recipient's blood vessels. Once blood is flowing through the newly transplanted bowel, the two ends of the bowel can be joined to the recipient.

Often the large bowel (large intestine) is also transplanted with the small bowel. This is called an 'intestine-only' transplant.

Intestinal diseases can also affect other organs, and sometimes other organs from the same deceased donor need to be transplanted at the same time.

The transplant team will let you know if they think that you will need other organs to be transplanted.

Learn about other types of bowel transplant

Sometimes the liver, stomach, pancreas or kidneys might be damaged by the bowel disease of the treatments needed. If the damage is severe, then those organs might also need to be transplanted at the same time as the bowel.

These transplant variations each have different names: