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Background: Pancreatic leak is a major source of morbidity associated with pancreatic surgery. We sought to identify disease and technique-dependent factors associated with morbidity and mortality after distal pancreatectomy., Methods: Retrospective review of patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy during a 5-year period. Clinical, technical, and pathologic data were correlated with operative morbidity or mortality., Results: Fifty-one patients underwent distal pancreatectomy for primary pancreatic disease, extrapancreatic malignancy, or trauma. Overall perioperative mortality and morbidity rates were 4% and 47%, respectively. Pancreatic leak was the most common complication, occurring in 26% of patients. Overall complications and pancreatic leaks occurred more often after distal pancreatectomy for trauma and in patients with a sutured pancreatic stump closure., Conclusions: Distal pancreatectomy can be performed with a low rate of mortality, though pancreatic leak is a common cause of morbidity. The urgency of the procedure and the method of pancreatic stump closure may influence postoperative morbidity.

The medical records of patients subjected to distal pancreatectomy for chronic pancreatitis from 1982 to 1992 were reviewed to ascertain if pain relief could be predicted based on computed axial tomography (CAT) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) findings. Of 10 patients who had severe pain preoperatively and disease limited to the body or tail of the pancreas, 9 had no pain or only mild pain postoperatively. Of 7 patients with severe pain preoperatively and diffuse disease or disease localized to the head of the pancreas, 6 required further hospitalization and resection or drainage procedures for severe, recurrent pain. We believe 50% to 60% of distal pancreatectomy procedures meet most criteria for the best operation for a select group of patients with chronic pancreatitis: those patients with severe pain, small ducts (< 5 mm), and whose disease is limited to the body or tail of the gland.

Thirteen patients with amebic liver abscess and 26 with pyogenic abscess were identified during a 10 year period. All but one patient with an amebic abscess had emigrated or traveled to areas where amebiasis was endemic. Half of the patients in whom pyogenic abscesses developed had debilitating disease and anemia. Factors predisposing to multiple rather than solitary hepatic abscess were biliary tract disease before surgery, cancer, chemotherapy, steroid administration and alcoholism. Elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase and hypoalbuminemia were present in most patients. Three patients with amebic abscess died, two of whom has massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage from associated amebic colitis. No patient with a solitary pyogenic liver abscess died. Fifteen of 16 patients with multiple liver abscesses died. Failure to consider the diagnosis of liver abscess, confusion over interpretation of the scan, failure to operate or provide a timely operation and failure to adequately explore the abdomen or identify all abscesses were factors responsible for eight unnecessary deaths.

Gastrointestinal bleeding after surgery for cancer of the pancreas contributes significantly to patient morbidity and to patient mortality, if the bypass was performed for palliation. Bleeding after resection of the pancreatic tumor appears to be amenable to therapy, and unaltered by the addition of vagotomy at the time of surgery. Patients undergoing palliative surgery who are expected to live beyond the postoperative period may well benefit from measures to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

An experience with 68 patients with hemorrhagic pancreatitis identified at operation or autopsy is reported. Sixteen of the patients were subjected to operation, and 6 survived after celiotomy and peritoneal irrigation. There were no survivors in the unoperated group. Death when the pancreas is hemorrhagic and due to pancreatitis occurs an average of 10 days after the onset of symptoms or within 7 days of hospitalization. In eight patients who presented in coma, the diagnosis was not established before death. Early recognition of patients with hemorrhagic pancreatitis can be facilitated by the routine use of amylase and methemalbumin determinations and peritoneal lavage. Translocation of large volumes of albumin-rich fluid from the intravascular compartment to the retroperitoneum and pleural and abdominal cavities is in part responsible for many of the signs, symptoms, and complications of hemorrhagic pancreatitis. These include hemoconcentration, hypotension, tachycardia, tachypnea, ascites, abdominal distress, respiratory insufficiency, and renal failure. Adequate initial resuscitation and intensive follow-up are probably the most important elements in the management of patients with hemorrhagic pancreatitis. Careful monitoring of fluid and electrolytes and blood gases is required to avoid shock and renal and pulmonary failure. The need for careful monitoring is emphasized by the number of our patients in whom inadequacies of fluid replacement and ventilation were often not appreciated until the patient was in extremis from shock or respiratory or renal failure. Antibiotics are indicated in patients with biliary tract disease and penetrating ulcer in whom the risk of secondary infection is considerable. Associated diseases that initiated pancreatitis and that in themselves may be life-threatening, such as acute cholecystitis or cholangitis, should be promptly treated by operation. Diagnostic and therapeutic lavage are justified in the treatment of hemorrhagic pancreatitis. Resection of the necrotic pancreas should be considered when the patient fails to improve after lavage and nonoperative resuscitation.

Operative cholangiography is still the most accurate and available method for assessing the presence or absence of stones in the common duct. However, 30 to 40 percent of stones will still be overlooked with cholangiography. To reduce the incidence of overlooked common duct stones we recommended that pressure and flow measurements be obtained before cholangiography. When pressures are high or high normal and flows low, the duct should be explored even in the presence of a normal cholangiogram. Under these circumstances, the incidence of false-positive pressure flow studies is less than 5 percent even in inexperienced hands.

The ERCP report in the patient's chart was compared with findings on common duct exploration or cystic duct cholangiography in 72 patients and found to have a sensitivity of 90.4 percent, a specificity of 98 percent, and an accuracy of 95.8 percent. Factors having the potential to influence the accuracy of ERCP were errors in interpretation by the surgeon and the radiologist and the operative technique of cholecystectomy. Also, the interval between the performance of the procedure and operation was particularly important in the patient with multiple small gallstones or small common duct stones. Small gallstones may spontaneously pass from the gallbladder to the common duct, or small common duct stones may spontaneously pass into the duodenum; therefore, the longer the interval between ERCP and operation, the greater the likelihood of a discrepancy. At operation, gallstones may be squeezed into the common duct during manipulation of the gallbladder unless the cystic duct is obstructed before manipulation of the gallbladder. We found ERCP sufficiently accurate to make cystic duct cholangiography unnecessary in most patients with cholelithiasis having a preoperative ERCP examination.