Postoperative pancreatitis as a complication of biliary surgery

Forty patients who underwent biliary surgery were investigated for postoperative pancreatic disturbance as measured by the amylase creatinine clearance ration (ACCR). Its relevance to preoperative pancreatitis, exploration of the common bile duct, and operative cholangiography were examined. The results suggested that a recent clinically proven episode of pancreatitis did not predispose to a postoperative recurrence following biliary surgery. Similarly, cholecystectomy alone did not produce a postoperative pancreatic disturbance. However, exploration of the common bile duct did frequently cause a postoperative elevated ACCR, and hence we recommend that duct exploration should be performed as carefully and as atraumatically as possible. The small number of patients who did not have operative cholangiograms prevented statistical evaluation of the effect of this procedure on the pancreas. However, information from elsewhere suggests that the plasma amylase level is not likely to be raised by cholangiography.