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Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Robotic Enucleation of an Intra-Pancreatic Insulinoma in the Pancreatic Head
Published on: January 3, 2020
Long-standing insulinoma: two case reports and review of the literature
Mohamed Tarchouli1, Abdelmounaim Ait Ali2, Moulay Brahim Ratbi3
1Department of Digestive Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed V Military Hospital, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco. mtarchouli@gmail.com.
Background:
Insulinomas are rare pancreatic endocrine tumors. Most are benign and solitary. However, the nonspecific symptoms and small size of these tumors led to difficulties of diagnosis and localization.
Case Presentation:
We present two Arab patients with pancreatic long-standing insulinoma. Both patients presented episodic hypoglycemic symptoms respectively during 10 and 2 years. Biochemical and morphological workup detected localized pancreatic insulinoma. Open procedure surgery was done for the two patients and insulinomas were successfully removed by enucleation.
Conclusion:
Insulinoma remains a diagnostic challenge to practitioners. Diagnosis of suspected cases is easily confirmed by standard endocrine tests, especially the supervised fasting test. Accurate preoperative localization is essential for more effective and safest surgery.
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