Complications after pancreatectomies: prospective study after ISGFP and ISGPS new classifications

Scientific publications focusing on the results of pancreatic resections in Brazil are scarce.

To present the surgical results of pancreatic resections.

Were analyzed prospectively 54 consecutive cases of patients undergoing consecutive pancreatectomy evaluating the occurrence of postoperative complications (pancreatic fistula, delayed gastric emptying and postoperative hemorrhage) based on the criteria of the International Study Group on Pancreatic Fistula Definition and International Study Group of Pancreatic Surgery.

Of the 54 pancreatectomy, 32 occurred in women (59,26%) and 22 in men (40,74%). The mean age of patients was 54,5 years. The most performed procedure was the Whipple operation, in 38 patients. In eight of those cases, mesenteric-portal confluence was ressected. The mean period of hospitalization was 20,7 days. The hospitalization in 51% of patients was up to 10 days. A pancreatic fistula was observed in 50% of the cases submitted to the Whipple surgery. The postoperative hemorrhage and delayed gastric emptying in patients undergoing the surgery occurred respectively in 13,15% and 18,41%. The overall morbidity and mortality was respectively 62.9% and 5.5%.

There is a need for the national publications to assimilate the concepts and criteria presented by the ISGFP(2) and ISGPS(23,25) to enable comparison of the results obtained with surgical treatment of pancreatic disorders, in the Brazilian context. Who knows, therefore, whether the great advanced seen in the last 40 years in terms of the reduction in mortality rates associated with pancreatic resections may also occur with the persistently high levels of postoperative complications.