[Regional pancreatectomy in tumors invading the portal vein]

The authors present the clinical history of a patient who underwent the first regional pancreatectomy performed in Panama. The patient had been operated on one year before and the tumor in the head of the pancreas had been considered unresectable at that time because it had invaded the portal vein. Since the patient was in excellent health and her diabetes and hypertension (diagnosed ten years before) were well controlled, the size of the tumor, as demonstrated in CAT scans, had not changed in one year and the biopsy of the tumor had characterized it as of neuroectodermic origin without regional lymph node involvement, it was decided to perform a regional pancreatectomy. The authors describe the different stages of the resection of the tumor and the anatomical reconstruction. They point out the recommendations of different schools of thought about the operation and report on the excellent results obtained in this patient.