Nearly six months after undergoing the University Health System's first-ever intestinal transplant surgery, Courtney Wagner of Monterey, Va. has made a full recovery.
Although the University's Charles O. Strickler Transplant Center is among a handful of locations equipped to perform an intestinal transplant, the procedure itself had never been performed there before. When Assistant Surgery Prof. Timothy Schmitt encountered Wagner's case, he decided she was the perfect candidate for undergoing the operation.
Wagner "had a large tumor of the bowels," Schmitt said. "She wasn't able to eat or drink, and the only way to treat her was to remove the tumor, and in doing that, we would have to take out her entire small bowel."
Wagner, 24, had her large intestine removed at the age of 17, Schmitt said.
"She has a syndrome called FAP, or familial adenomatous polyposis, which made her predisposed to early colon cancer," he explained.
Theoretically, doctors could have removed Wagner's small intestine and avoided the transplant, but Schmitt said this would have greatly reduced her quality of life.
"You can survive without a small intestine, but it would require you to be on IV nutrition all the time," he said. "It's the equivalent of being on long-term dialysis."
During his time at the Nebraska Health System in Omaha, Schmitt performed intestinal transplant surgeries, making him a desirable candidate to perform the procedure at the University.
Wagner said her oncologist suggested she have the surgery performed in Nebraska, where doctors were more familiar with the procedure; however, Wagner eventually ruled that out because she trusted the opinions of the University doctors with whom she had spoken.
Despite being the first patient to undergo this surgery at the Strickler Transplant Center, Wagner said she had no reservations about her decision. She said it took her two to three months to "learn how to eat again," but was ultimately very pleased with her treatment.
"I had a lot of confidence, and it went very well," she said.
Wagner had also been placed on TPN, or total parenteral nutrition, for several months both before and after the surgery. TPN is a combination of essential nutrients administered intravenously. Wagner stopped receiving TPN in mid-August, less than four months after the surgery was performed. Although she will continue to take immunosuppressant medications for the rest of her life, she said she now will do so in reduced doses.
Schmitt, meanwhile, reiterated that intestinal transplant is a relatively rare procedure even today, nearly two decades after it was first introduced.
"We're trying to make it more common, but it had such a bad reputation when it first started that people are still reluctant to consider it as an option," he said.
He pointed out, however, that because of improved immunosuppression, the survival rate for the procedure has increased massively.
"People are becoming more aware of it" as an option, Schmitt said. "The survival rate was very poor for bowel transplant in the early 90s, around 20 percent after two years. But now it's approaching that of liver transplant, around 75 to 80 percent after five years"
Read More
Students have federal internship offers rescinded due to hiring freeze
By Nina Broderick | 17 hours agoUntil July 15, no presently vacant federal civilian positions may be filled, and no new positions may be created.
Man dies from self-inflicted gunshot wounds at the Rotunda
By Ford McCracken | 22 hours agoThe investigation is ongoing, and additional details are not available at this time.
Virginia primary elections feature contested race for Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate
By Nicolas Biernacki | YesterdayEligible voters can find more information about early voting by consulting the City Department of Voter Registration & Elections website or the County Department of Elections website.
