Laparoscopic surgery in pancreatic diseases: Pushing the boundaries

Laparoscopic surgery has expanded exponentially in the last two decades but, somehow it is limited in pancreatic surgery by virtue of the pancreas being a friable, retroperitoneal organ with difficult access and adjacent major vessels risking torrential bleed. It is thought to be unforgiving if not handled well. However, improvements in technology and surgeon's expertise have pushed the boundaries of minimal access surgery (MAS) to include pancreas in its domain. We present our series of laparoscopic pancreatic surgery (LPS) with an aim to look at the feasibility and outcomes.

This is a retrospective review of all LPS done at the Gastrointestinal Surgery (GIS) centre of a tertiary care Armed Forces Hospital over a period of 3 years.

A total of 24 LPS were done during this period. The median age of the patients was 46 years (range; 13-81). There were 14 male and 10 female patients. Nine patients had at least one co-morbidity. Three patients underwent laparoscopic lateral pancreaticojejunostomy, 4 distal pancreatectomy, 4 laparoscopic Whipples pancreaticoduodenectomy, 6 laparoscopic pancreatic necrosectomy, 6 laparoscopic cystogastrostomy and 1 roux en y cystojejunostomy.

LPS can be performed for almost all open pancreatic surgeries and can be done with reasonable outcomes. However, it has a steep learning curve and therefore, a hybrid approach leading to a totally laparoscopic approach may be the way forward.