Intestinal Transplant Program

Description of Clinical Program
Intestinal transplantation is one modality used to treat select patients with short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure who are dependent on total parenteral nutrition (TPN). There are few transplant centers in the United States and worldwide with significant experience in intestinal transplantation. At the University of California, Los Angeles, an intestinal transplant program was initiated in 1991 by Dr Ronald W. Busuttil and Dr. Douglas G. Farmer. Currently, the program is the fourth largest intestinal transplant center in the United States and the only major center in the Western United States. The program is medicare approved since May 2003.

Successful outcomes equal to or greater than those reported by other centers have been consistently demonstrated at UCLA. This success is due in a large part to the multidisciplinary approach taken at UCLA wherein patients are carefully evaluated and treated by a large team of health care professionals with varying specialties including transplant surgery, anesthesiology, hepatology, gastroenterology, nutrition, infectious disease, and intensive care. Additionally, the program has benefited from a close working relationship with the UCLA Liver Transplant Program and the UCLA Nutrition Program - both being one of the largest and most experienced programs of their kind in the world.

Intestinal Transplantation at the Dumont-UCLA Transplant Center

How to refer a patient
The Dumont-UCLA Intestinal Transplant Program is actively evaluating potential candidates for intestinal transplantation. Interested patients and physician can contact the program at (310) 825-5318 or (310)794-6487. Program physicians are available for any questions regarding current treatment options. Emergency or urgent transfers can be arranged 24 hours a day by calling (310) 825-5318 and requesting that the liver transplant nurse coordinator on-call be paged.