Acute pancreatitis: when and how to operate

Patients with proved necrotizing pancreatitis should be treated in an intensive care unit. Surgical management of necrotizing pancreatitis is indicated if an acute abdomen or persistent or increasing signs of organ complications develop, such as pulmonary or renal insufficiency, cardiocirculatory dysfunction or metabolic disorders, and these do not respond to maximum intensive care treatment over at least 72 h. Besides these so-called non-responders to ICU treatment, operative management is clearly indicated in patients who develop signs of sepsis on the basis of a bacteriologically positive fine-needle aspiration of pancreatic necroses. In patients with minor necroses without any bacterial contamination and without extensive retroperitoneal fatty tissue necroses intensive care therapy can be successful without the necessity of a surgical intervention. The gold standard of surgical management of necrotizing pancreatitis is careful removal of necrotic tissue, drainage of bacterially infected area, elimination of the pancreatogenic ascites in order to prevent systemic spread of vasoactive and toxic substances and interruption of the inflammatory process. For the treatment of pancreatic necrosis we strongly support surgical debridement (necrosectomy), supplemented by postoperative closed continuous lavage of the lesser sac and the adjacent necrotic cavities. In 152 patients suffering from severe necrotizing pancreatitis the hospital mortality was 12.5% (19/152) by this surgical approach.