Pancreaticoduodenectomy: a comparison of superior approach with classical Whipple's technique

BACKGROUND: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is the standard procedure for resecting tumors arising from the periampullary area and the pancreatic head. Nevertheless this procedure is inherently difficult and associated with high morbidity and mortality. Besides, the technique applied for exposing the portal and superior mesenteric veins is time-consuming, difficult and associated with the risk of major venous injury. Recently we have introduced a modified approach for making this part of the procedure quick, safe and bloodless, which constitutes the subject of this study. METHODS: Patients who underwent pylorus preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PPPD) either by superior approach technique (group 1) or by classical Whipple’s technique (group 2) were retrospectively identified. Age-sex composition, body mass index (BMI), total operative time, operative blood loss, intraoperative blood transfusion requirement, morbidity, mortality and length of hospital stay were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Between January 1997 and December 2011, 72 patients underwent PPPD by the superior approach technique (group 1) and 38 underwent PPPD by the classical Whipple’s technique (group 2) at our institution. Statistically significant differences were observed in operative time (208.1±46.3 minutes in group 1 vs 322.0±33.8 minutes in group 2), operative blood loss (601.0±250.3 mL in group 1 vs 1371.5±471.8 mL in group 2), and intraoperative blood transfusion requirement [10 (13.9%) patients in group 1 and 24 (63.2%) in group 2]. Among 18 (16.4%) obese patients, significant differences in operativetime, operative blood loss and intraoperative blood transfusion requirement were observed between groups 1 and 2. There was no significant inter-group difference in complication rate among obese patients, but comparing obese patients with normal weight patients revealed higher rates of complications like pancreatic fistula (27.8% vs 6.5%), delayed gastric emptying (16.7% vs 5.4%), and infective complications like wound infection and intra abdominal collection (44.4% vs 5.4%). CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of analytical data, we conclude that the superior approach technique is effective for PD compared with the classical Whipple’s technique. It allows fast, safe and virtually bloodless dissection for exposure of the superior mesenteric and portal veins during early steps of PD. PD is normally a difficult and tedious procedure carrying a remote risk of major venous injury leading to substantial blood loss.

A selective approach to the surgical management of periampullary cancer patients and its outcome

BACKGROUND： Pancreaticoduodenectomy is a high risk, complex, technically challenging operation associated with significant perioperative morbidity and mortality. This study on the surgical management of periampullary cancer patients is based on our experience in a period of nearly 13 years. METHODS： The study was conducted on two groups of patients： group A included 42 patients who were treated between January 2000 and September 2005 and group B included 134 patients who were treated between October 2005 to October 2012. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative details of all these patients were collected, tabulated and analyzed to assess the impact of the selective approach introduced in the department with effect from October 2005. RESULTS： Intraoperative details revealed highly significant differences in the management of the two groups of patients in respect of operative time （250.4 vs 126.6 minutes; P〈0.001）, operative blood loss （1070.2 vs 414.9 mL; P〈0.001） and intraoperative blood transfusion （1A vs 0.2 units; P〈0.001）. Variations between the two groups in the frequency of complications were found to be statistically insignificant. However, the difference between the two groups in the overall morbidity of patients （47.6% vs 26.1%; P=0.009） and the length of their hospital stay （11.8 vs 7.8 days; P〈0.001） were significant. CONCLUSION： A selective approach applied to the surgical management of periampullary cancer patients is a step in the right direction.