Intestine Transplant Decision
To decide if an intestinal transplant is the right treatment for your child, the transplant team will carefully assess your child’s:
- Medical need for transplant (urgency)
- Blood and diagnostic tests
- Medical history, including previous surgery
- Physical exam
We will also consider what we learned in our meetings with your family.
You can expect a decision within two weeks of completing your pre-transplant evaluation.
Once all of your child’s information and test results are ready, the entire transplant team will meet to make the decision. A member of the team will communicate the recommendation to you by phone or at your child’s next scheduled clinic visit. You will also receive a notice of this recommendation in writing. The decision could include any of the following:
- Your child is ready to be listed for transplant now.
- Transplant is not the best option for your child.
- Your child may be a candidate for transplant in the future; however, your child is not clinically ready for transplant at this time.
If your child’s evaluation indicates that there is a possibility for restoring his intestinal function through diet, medication or non-transplant surgical therapies, he may be admitted as an inpatient or outpatient to Children’s Intestinal Care Program.
If the team decides that your child is an immediate candidate for transplant and you as a family agree, your child will be placed on the United Network for Organs Sharing (UNOS) transplant waiting list.