Trans gastric sinus stent placement and drainage in management of persistent external pancreatic fistula / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the use of trans gastric sinus stent placement and drainage in management of persistent external pancreatic fistula.Methods:The clinical data of 12 patients who developed persistent external pancreatic fistulae after severe acute pancreatitis, pancreatic trauma or pancreatic surgery who were treated at the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from August 2018 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 10 males and 2 females, aged 30 to 65 years, median 43.5 years. These patients underwent trans gastric sinus stent placement and drainage, and were followed-up to study persistence of pancreatic fistula, new pancreatic fluid accumulation, complications and death.Results:In this study, there were 9 patients who developed persistent external pancreatic fistulae after severe acute pancreatitis, 2 patients after pancreatic trauma, and 1 patient after pancreatic surgery. The median operation time was 47 min (range 38-54 min). The technical success rate was 100.0% (12/12). The median follow-up was 22.5 months (range 2-29 months). Seven days after stenting, the percutaneous drainage tubes (urinary catheters) of all the patients were removed. One patient (8.3%) developed recurrence of pancreatic fistula 17 days after treatment. The same procedure of placing another stent was done and the patient recovered. Six months after treatment, 2 patients (16.7%) lost their stents, and 1 patient developed a pseudocyst (recurrence of pancreatic fistula). The maximum diameter of this pseudocyst increased gradually to 7cm after 9 months. A double pigtail drainage tube was placed under endoscopy in this patient, and the patients recovered. All the other patients did not develop recurrence of pancreatic fistula or pseudocyst. During the follow-up period, no patient developed any new complications including pancreatic fluid accumulation, fever, bleeding, infection and organ dysfunction, and no patients died.Conclusion:It was safe and efficacious to use trans gastric sinus stent placement for treatment of persistent external pancreatic fistula. However, the long-term outcomes require further studies.