Simultaneous Pancreas–Kidney Versus Kidney Transplant Alone: Real-World Outcomes in a Propensity-Matched Global Cohort

The true comparative effectiveness of simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) versus kidney transplantation alone (KTA) in patients with diabetes and end-stage renal disease remains incompletely defined. Using the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network (2010-2024), we identified 3,679 SPKT and 27,062 KTA recipients aged 18-59 years. In unmatched comparisons, SPKT recipients showed lower mortality, fewer cardiovascular events, and improved kidney graft survival relative to KTA recipients, but also higher early rejection, infection, and readmission rates. After 1:1 propensity score matching, the cohorts were well balanced across all measured covariates, and long-term estimates for survival (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.90-1.10), kidney graft failure (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94-1.04), and cardiovascular events (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94-1.05) no longer differed over 10 years. In contrast, SPKT recipients maintained significantly lower HbA1c levels throughout follow-up (mean 6.2% vs. 6.6% at 5 years; p < 0.001), reflecting sustained physiologic glycaemic control and a high probability of insulin independence. Sensitivity analyses restricted to type 1 diabetes and non-obese recipients yielded consistent results. After accounting for measured differences between recipients, we did not detect a long-term survival advantage of SPKT over KTA, whereas durable metabolic benefits persisted. Because key donor and immunologic characteristics were not available, a modest intrinsic survival benefit cannot be excluded. These findings highlight the major role of patient selection and support individualised use of SPKT for metabolic indications and quality-of-life improvement rather than survival gain alone.