Palliative laparoscopic hepatico- and gastrojejunostomy for advanced pancreatic cancer

Only 10% to 20% of pancreatic tumors are resectable at the time of diagnosis. Patients with advanced disease have a median survival of 4.9 months. Palliation is often required for biliary or duodenal obstruction, or both, and for pain. Optimal palliation should guarantee the shortest possible hospital stay and as long a survival as possible with a good quality of life. In recent years, treatment options for palliation of biliary and duodenal obstruction due to pancreatic cancer have broadened. Endoscopic and percutaneous biliary stenting have been shown to be successful tools for safe palliation of high-risk patients. Nevertheless, fit patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer benefit from surgery, which allows long-lasting biliary and gastric drainage. While laparoscopic cholecystojejunostomy and gastroenterostomy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have been widely reported, laparoscopic hepatico-jejunostomy has been rarely described. In this article, we describe our technique of laparoscopic hepatico-jejunostomy and gastrojejunostomy. We also discuss current evidence on the indications for these procedures in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.