Management of pancreatic cysts: a review of the current guidelines

The number of patients diagnosed with cystic pancreatic neoplasms (CPN) has increased significantly during the last decade due to the widespread use of cross-sectional imaging. These CPN consist of a heterogeneous group of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions with variable histopathological features, clinical presentation, and outcome. Until now we are not able to reliably identify all CPNs that require additional analysis, surgical resection or surveillance. Hence, physicians and surgeons are confronted with a difficult dilemma as they do not want to miss a diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma, but this often leads to the risk of over- or misuse of diagnostic examinations with a risk of complications and increased health care costs. Currently, four expert consensus guidelines on cystic lesions of the pancreas are available. Unfortunately, recommendations vary considerably between these guidelines. The purpose of this review therefore was to compare the different guidelines and elaborate upon the topics where these guidelines disagree.