RESUMEN
Background: The objective of the study was to find out long term outcome of patients who underwent Frey’s procedure for chronic calcific pancreatitis.Methods: This is a prospective observational study from retrospectively collected data of all patients who underwent Frey’s procedure for chronic calcific pancreatitis in Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai from January 2012 to December 2014. All patients who have completed at least 48 months after surgery were followed up and their long-term postoperative quality of life were analyzed.Results: Totally 48 patients underwent Frey’s procedure during this period. Eight patients lost follow up. Preoperatively all patients had pain score above six in numerical rating scale but after surgery only two patients in the long term required stronger opioids for pain relief. Exocrine deficiency was present in 24 (60%) patients preoperatively, out of which seven patients showed improvement, eight patients had worsened exocrine deficiency and weight loss. Post operatively there were six patients who developed exocrine deficiency. Endocrine deficiency was seen in 23 (57.5%) patients preoperatively and during follow up none showed improvement, with two (5%) patients developed endocrine deficiency. Seven patients showed worsened endocrine deficiency as documented by increasing insulin requirement. Quality of life analysis using SF 36 showed poor quality of life in patients with worsened exocrine deficiency.Conclusions: Frey’s procedure although in long term showed improved outcome in terms of pain free survival and overall quality of life, exocrine and endocrine deficiency persisted in most and worsened in some patients.