Surgical treatment of painful chronic pancreatitis: an unresolved problem?

Relief of pain in chronic pancreatitis is the major problem warranting surgical treatment in this disease. The mechanism of pain is largely unknown and several types of operation have been devised for treatment. Side-to-side pancreaticojejunostomy (Partington-Rochelle) and pancreaticoduodenectomy according to Whipple have stood the test of time. Recently, new surgical options have been explored like the operation according to Beger, segmental autotransplantation, and duodenum-preserving total pancreatectomy. Because of the reluctance to refer this type patient for surgery, treatment with analgesic drugs is continued for quite some time and once analgesia addiction has developed clinical judgement in these patients is severely hampered. Surgery can be performed with 70-80% success and with limited morbidity as well as low mortality. For these reasons surgery should be discussed early in the disease if pain becomes a major problem. If these patients are operated prior to analgesia addiction, maybe the long-term prognosis will improve. The diagnostic and surgical approach will be discussed in detail with a plea for considering surgery early in the course of disease.