Spain is a world leader in organ donation from deceased and ranks among the top four countries in the number of transplants per population. However, over 75% of donors the country is over 65, a "serious problem" for pancreas transplants, as "the donor's age should not exceed 45-50 years," warned the Dr. Eduardo Martin Escobar, a member of the National Transplant Organization (ONT). "To follow the pace of modern life" in the coming years "will increase the demand of patients who need a pancreas transplant," he noted.

These issues have been discussed in the National Surgical XVIII Meeting of the Spanish Association of Surgeons, held these days in Pamplona and have attended some 1,000 professionals to present and discuss the latest developments in this area of ​​medicine. Among other issues, the meeting has addressed the obesity surgery, breast cancer in young women of childbearing age and pancreas transplantation, as the representative of the ONT, "will increase the pace of demand living ".

Martin Escobar noted that diabetes and hypertension are the "main" responsible for this situation, since "the two diseases are interrelated with renal failure and its incidence will continue to increase steadily in coming years as a result of ill habits of life. " In most patients with renal insufficiency, stressed, "more people will need a new organ."

The doctor has said that the "future" of this type of transplant "is in the cell therapy treatment" to "avoid the problem of donor shortage." "Cell therapy is seen as a possible alternative to transplantation of pancreatic solid. The technique consists of introducing new cells capable of producing insulin," he explained.

Dr. Fernando Dominguez, president of the organizing committee of the XVIII National Meeting of Surgery, has revealed that last year alone in the Navarra Health Service carried out 9500 surgical procedures in general surgery and digestive system, one third of which were urgent. At the national level has indicated, there were nearly 4.7 million transactions in 2009, a figure that translates into "one of every 10 people in that year was operated with any type of pathology."