ABSTRACT
Background: Pancreaticoduodenectomy is the only possible choice of treatment for peri-ampoullar neoplasms. Morbidity in pancreatic surgery is mainly related to the development of a postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). According to International Study Group on Pancreatic Fistula it is possible to grade POPF based on clinical variables. Three main different surgical strategies have been proposed to deal with the pancreatic stump following pancreaticoduodenectomy: pancreatojejunostomy, pancreatogastrostomy and pancreatic duct occlusion, but none of them has been clearly demonstrated to be superior to the others. The aim of our study is to evaluate the feasibility of duct occlusion and its correlations with postoperative pancreatic fistula, “brittle diabetes” and overall survival in a low volume centre. We decided to review our previous experience in the light of the recent Covid pandemic where, in our country, it has been forced in many regions to displace treatment of oncological patients in low volume hospitals with limited experienceMethods: We retrospectively reviewed 56 consecutive patients, from a prospective maintained database, who underwent Whipple’s procedure from January 2007 to December 2014 in a tertiary Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplant Unit with a low volume of pancreatic resections. The mean follow-up was 24.5 months. Results: The overall incidence of postoperative pancreatic fistula was 66.6%: 15 patients had a Grade A (31.25%), 13 a Grade B fistula (27.03%), and 4 (8.3%) suffered from a life-threatening Grade C fistula. At the last follow-up, 24 of the 28 patients who were alive (85.6%) habitually used substitutive pancreatic enzyme. Conclusion: Duct occlusion can be a safe alternative to pancreatic anastomosis especially in low volume centres and for those patients (age >75 years, obese, hard pancreatic texture, small pancreatic duct) at higher risk of clinically relevant POPF.Trial registration: 'retrospectively registered'