Postoperative complications and survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients

Surgical resection offers the only potential cure for pancreatic tumor. The goal of the present study is to determine complications associated with pancreatic resection and to describe their influence on the survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients.

Between 1996 and 2009, the findings of 125 pancreatic cancer patients were analyzed in a prospective trial at the First Department of Surgery, University Hospital in Košice, Slovakia.

The overall mortality rate and morbidity rate were 3.2% (4 patients) and 27% (34 patients), respectively. In patients with postoperative complications, the median survival time was 12 months (range, 8-14 months), in patients without complications - 18 months (range, 15-20 months).

The presence of postoperative complications after pancreatic resections has negative influence on the survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients. Patients with a small pancreatic duct size (<3 mm) or a soft pancreatic remnant were at high risk of pancreatic leakage and postoperative complications.