[Closure of postoperative anastomotic fistulas with a somatostatin analogue]

Postoperative gastrointestinal fistula formation is not rare, and is accompanied by considerable morbidity and mortality. Somatostatin, a potential, universal endocrine and exocrine inhibitor, is a peptide synthesized in the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. We describe 2 men, 58 and 53 years old, respectively, with postoperative fistulas, the first after pancreatic-jejunal and the second after jejunal anastomosis. 7 and 3 days, respectively, after starting a synthetic somatostatin analogue (SMS 201-995), discharge from the fistulas decreased and they closed completely.