Surgical options in the patient with chronic pancreatitis

There are a number of indications for surgical intervention in chronic pancreatitis, but the most common is intractable pain. Many surgical procedures can be applied in the patient with chronic pain, and the variety of procedures reflects the fact that no single procedure is ideal for all patients. Duct drainage procedures are safe and have a significant response rate, but only about one third of patients experience long-lasting complete relief of pain. Procedures that combine resection and duct drainage are generally more effective, with long-term success rates in the 80% range. The development of the Frey and Beger procedures, two methods for pancreatic head resection that preserve the anatomy of the stomach, duodenum, and bile duct, represents an advance in surgical therapy of chronic pancreatitis. Total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation is a procedure that may be appropriate in certain subsets of patients. Thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy is a new, minimally invasive procedure, still in evaluation, which may become a very valuable method when the sole indication for surgery is intractable pain.