Effect of different pancreatic stump closure techniques after distal pancreatectomy on frequency and severity of acute postoperative pancreatitis

Objective: to study the effect of different pancreatic stump closure techniques and diameter of the main pancreatic duct on frequency and severity of acute postoperative pancreatitis after distal pancreatectomy. Material and Methods. Distal pancreatectomy was performed on 126 patients with neoplasms of body and/or tail of the pancreas. Patients were distributed among four groups based upon the pancreatic stump closure technique applied after distal pancreatectomy: group 1 (control) included the patients with isolated suturing of the main pancreatic duct in the pancreatic stump with its subsequent sealing by the gastrocolic omentum or hemostatic sponge; group 2 patients underwent isolated suturing of the main pancreatic duct in the pancreatic stump with its subsequent sealing with 2-octyl cyanoacrylate biological glue; group 3 patients had their pancreatic stump closure performed with endoscopic linear cutter stapler; group 4 was composed of the patients with external transduodenal transnasal drainage of enlarged (D>3 mm) main pancreatic duct in the pancreatic stump. Results. The occurrence of acute postoperative pancreatitis in the control group amounted to 45.8%, while, in groups 2, 3 and 4, the frequencies were 44.4, 9.7 and 15.0(%), correspondingly. Besides, the control group was characterized by declined occurrence of the moderately severe form of acute postoperative pancreatitis. Use of endoscopic linear cutter stapler and external transduodenal transnasal drainage of the enlarged main pancreatic duct caused lower acute postoperative pancreatitis frequency in the patients with main pancreatic duct in their pancreatic stumps below 5 mm in diameter. Conclusion. Use of proposed pancreatic stump closure techniques after distal pancreatectomy resulted in lower frequencies of occurrence and severity of acute postoperative pancreatitis.