A Bi-national Analysis of 252 Pancreatic Resections for Chronic Pancreatitis with Regard to Incidental Carcinoma Sequence and Overall Postoperative Outcome.

BACKGROUND/AIM Numerous treatment algorithms for patients with chronic pancreatitis are still debated. In particular, surgical therapy is often only considered after long-term conservative treatment. The aim of this study was the bi-national analysis of patients who underwent pancreatic resection for suspected chronic pancreatitis at an Austrian and a German high-volume center with regard to overall postoperative outcome and incidental carcinoma sequence. PATIENTS AND METHODS Overall, 252 consecutive pancreatic resections for suspected chronic pancreatitis were performed at the two institutions between 2005 and 2015. In a bi-national retrospective analysis, postoperative results as well as histopathological findings were analyzed. RESULTS Pancreatic resections were performed in 193 male (76.6%) and 59 female patients (23.4%), with a median age of 53.2 years. A total of 175 resections of the pancreatic head (69.4%), 37 distal pancreatectomies (14.7%), 23 total pancreatectomies (9.1%) and 18 other pancreatic resections (7.1%) were performed within our study period. Postoperative complications Clavien-Dindo grade II or greater occurred in 94 patients (37.3%). Twenty-one patients (8.3%) developed clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (grade B and C), while postoperative mortality occurred in four patients (1.6%). Final histological examination of the operative specimen revealed incidental pancreatic adenocarcinoma in 18 out of the 252 patients (7.1%). CONCLUSION The results of our study demonstrate that pancreatic resections for chronic pancreatitis may nowadays be considered technically feasible and safe. The high incidence of incidental pancreatic adenocarcinoma especially underlines the necessity for an early surgical therapeutic approach for these patients.