ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the health issues related to transplantation. It also explains pathophysiology, cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, anaesthetic management, choice of anaesthetic agents, patients, preoperative management, premedication, perioperative management, monitoring, physiological goals, induction, maintenance, postoperative management and outcomes for the same. These issues include anaesthesia and brainstem death, liver transplantation, lung and heart-lung transplantation, pancreas transplantation and renal transplantation. While the concept of anaesthesia for a patient with confirmed brainstem death may seem paradoxical, the role of the anaesthetist is essential in preserving organ function prior to harvesting, thus optimising the probability of subsequent successful organ transplantation. Pancreas transplantation improves quality of life, stabilises or improves secondary complications of diabetes mellitus and has long-term survival advantage in patients with type 1 diabetes. There are three main categories of pancreas transplantation: simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant, pancreas transplant alone and pancreas after kidney.
