[Pancreatic pseudocysts: the surgical timing]

Forty-three cases of pancreatic pseudocysts (PPC) are reviewed. Various emergency and elective surgical therapeutical options have been employed: while external drainage has confirmed to represent the best procedure in emergency occurrences, cystojejunostomy has proved to be the treatment that better provides both optimal functional results and minimal mortality/morbidity in elective situations. Our study also confirms that the thickness of the pseudocystic wall is the only feature apt to determine whether or not a PPC is susceptible of internal surgical derivation, and that abdominal ultrasound scanning is the most sensitive and reliable diagnostic method to ascertain this prerequisite, thus providing a well-timed strategy for elective derivative operations.