Results of pancreatic blood shunting into the systemic blood flow in insulin-dependent diabetics.

A new surgical method of treating patients with unstable insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) has been developed--that of surgically shunting pancreatic blood into the systemic blood flow with the purpose of creating a more optimal interaction of subcutaneously administered insulin and pancreas-secreted glucagon. The long term results of the operation depend on the patency of a splenorenal anastomosis. This has been studied by following up 137 patients over periods from half a year to three years. Anastomotic patency was determined by renal and splenic venography and celiacy arteriography, which revealed a patent anastomosis in 114 patients, and an obliterated one in 23. Patients with patent anastomoses showed a lowering of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from 13.3 +/- 0.3% to 9.3 +/- 0.6%, p < 0.05, a decrease of the injected insulin dose from 0.97 +/- 0.04 to 0.72 +/- 0.03 U/kg, p < 0.05, disappearance or considerable abatement of pain in the lower extremities, and of hypoglycemia. Improvement of clinical status was accompanied by an increase of glucagon in the systemic blood stream from 60.8 +/- 10.1 to 91.5 +/- 9.4 pg/ml, p < 0.05, a rise of tissue oxygen pressure, pO2, from 49.2 +/- 2.4 to 58.1 +/- 1.9 mm Hg, p < 0.05. In patients with oblivious anastomoses postoperative HbA1c levels did not change from preoperative values: 12.9 +/- 0.4% and 12.8 +/- 0.7%, p < 0.05, respectively; the insulin dose remained the same--0.91 +/- 0.07 U/kg and 0.85 +/- 0.07 U/kg, p < 0.05, no rise of the systemic blood glucagon content was noted, and former complaints continued. The suggested method is not an alternative for insulin therapy, but considerably enhances its potential.