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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Generation of Orthotopic Pancreatic Tumors and Ex vivo Characterization of Tumor-Infiltrating T Cell Cytotoxicity
Published on: December 7, 2019
Octreotide hardens the pancreas
1Department of General, Vascular, Thoracic and Transplantation Surgery, University of Rostock, Schillingallee 35, 18057, D-18057 Rostock, Germany. thomas.foitzik@med.uni-rostock.de
Background And Aims:
Leakage from pancreaticojejunostomy and development of pancreatic fistulas are the major postoperative complications in patients undergoing duodenopancreatectomy. The risk of developing these complications is higher when surgery is performed on a soft pancreas. A recent report suggests that octreotide hardens the pancreas when given intraoperatively. The present study aims at verifying this observation by measuring tissue hardness of the pancreas by a commercially available durometer in pigs with and without octreotide pretreatment.
Methods:
Three groups of pigs were investigated: Group 1 (n=6) received no treatment; group 2 (n=6) was treated with 3x100 microg octreotide for 1 day; group 3 (n=6) for 5 days. Thereafter, animals were killed and the pancreas was harvested for performing measurements: Tissue hardness was assessed by a commercially available durometer, and a suture holding test was performed using a Newton dynamometer.
Results:
There was a significant increase in tissue hardness between untreated control animals [26.3+/-2.5 S.U. (shore units)] and animals with 1 day octreotide pretreatment (29.8+/-2.6 S.U.; p=0.04) as well as between the groups treated for 1 and 5 days (34.8+/-2.8 S.U.; p=0.01). Suture holding capacity was higher in animals treated for 5 days.
Conclusion:
The present study agrees with a recent report suggesting that octreotide hardens the pancreas. Octreotide pretreatment may therefore be an advantage when performing surgery on a soft pancreas, i.e., in patients scheduled for duodenopancreatectomy for ampullary carcinomas or circumscript pancreatic tumors not associated with chronic pancreatitis.
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