Korean J Gastrointest Endosc.  2010 Aug;41(2):65-71.

Gastrointestinal Complication in Transplant Patients

• Kim GM
• Cheung DY
• Kim JI

Abstract

The gastrointestinal tract is one of the major sites for complications after solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and gastrointestinal complications are the principle cause of morbidity and death. The major gastrointestinal complications after transplantation include mucositis, typhlitis, infectious enterocolitis by virus, bacteria or fungus, pseudomembranous colitis, gastric ulcer, graft-versus-host disease, pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis, thrombotic microangiopathy and post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disease. Symptoms and signs of gastrointestinal complications following transplantation are often non-specific and present with varying severity. Moreover, the suppressed immune state often prohibits invasive studies including endoscopy and blurs the serologic and hematologic results. Therefore, it is hard to reach accurate diagnoses even after thorough investigations. Almost all immunosuppressive drugs can lead to gastrointestinal complications and we need proper strategies to minimize their side effects. On the one hand, we can expect better organ and patient survival through the judicious use of a broad range of immunosuppressive drugs; on the other hand, we should try to not ruin survival through proper precautions and early treatment of gastrointestinal complications following successful transplantation.

Keyword

Transplantation; Gastrointestinal diseases; Immunosuppression; Graft-Versus-Host Disease

MeSH Terms

Bacteria
Endoscopy
Enterocolitis
Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous
Fungi
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Gastrointestinal Tract
Graft vs Host Disease
Hand
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Humans
Immunosuppression
Mucositis
Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis
Stomach Ulcer
Thrombotic Microangiopathies
Transplants
Typhlitis
Viruses