Central pancreatectomy: single-center experience of 50 cases

Central pancreatectomy is a nonstandard operation for unusual lesions. This study reports a single-center experience of central pancreatectomy. Thirty-eight women and 12 men with a mean age of 49.4 years (range, 13.4-79.2 years) underwent central pancreatectomy from January 1987 to October 2005. Indications included 18 neuroendocrine tumors (11 nonfunctioning), 10 serous and 10 mucinous cystadenomas, 5 intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, 3 main pancreatic duct strictures, 2 solid cystic papillary tumors, 1 hydatid cyst, and 1 acinar cell carcinoma. The proximal pancreatic remnant was suture ligated. The distal pancreatic end was anastomosed to a Roux-en-Y jejunal loop (n = 6) or to the stomach (n = 44). Three patients had associated procedures, 1 each for metastatic liver cytoreduction (VIPoma), hydatid liver disease, and pancreatic resection for multifocal mucinous cystadenoma. The median operative time was 3 hours 21 minutes (range, 1 hour 50 minutes to 6 hours). The mean length of the resected pancreas was 45 mm (range, 20-80 mm) and the mean tumor size was 23 mm (5-60 mm). The perioperative mortality was nil. Complications included the following: 4 patients (8%) had pancreatic anastomotic leak, 5 patients (10%) had acute pancreatitis, 7 patients (14%) had intra-abdominal collection, and 3 patients (6%) had bleeding. Six patients (12%) required a reoperation during the postoperative period. Eight patients (16%) required endoscopic (1 with biliary endoscopic stent) or radiological (7 with percutaneous drainage) intervention. No patients developed de novo diabetes. On long-term follow-up, 2 patients with invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasia had recurrence; one was treated successfully by completion pancreatectomy and the other died at 20 months. One patient with serous cystadenoma died at 16.8 years without recurrence. One patient with metastatic VIPoma had a liver transplant 9 years postoperatively and is alive. The median follow-up was 55 months (range, 2 months to 16.8 years). The actuarial 5-year patient and pancreatic remnant survival rates were 98% and 95%, respectively. In our series, central pancreatectomy led to effective preservation of both cephalic and distal pancreatic remnants without a significant increase in postoperative morbidity compared with conventional pancreatectomy.