Minimally Invasive Versus Open Pancreatectomies for Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: A Propensity-Score-Matched...

Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNENs) are increasingly prevalent with modern imaging, and surgical excision remains mainstay of treatment. This study aims to perform a propensity-score-matched (PSM) comparison of perioperative and oncologic outcomes following minimally invasive pancreatectomy (MIP) versus open pancreatectomy (OP) for PNEN.

A retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent curative-intent surgery for PNEN at Singapore General Hospital from 1997 to 2018. A 1:1 PSM was performed between MIP and OP, after which both groups were balanced for baseline variables.

We studied 134 patients who underwent surgery (36 MIP and 98 OP) for PNEN. Propensity-score-matched comparison between 35 MIP and 35 OP patients revealed that the MIP group had a longer operating time (MD = 75.0, 95% CI 15.2 to 134.8, P = 0.015), lower intraoperative blood loss (MD = - 400.0, 95% CI - 630.5 to - 169.5, P = 0.001), shorter median postoperative stay (MD = - 1.0, 95% CI - 1.9 to - 0.1, P = 0.029) and shorter median time to diet (MD = - 1.0, 95% CI - 1.9 to - 0.1, P = 0.039). There were no differences between both groups for short-term adverse outcomes and oncologic clearance. Overall survival (HR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.28 to 2.51, P = 0.761) and disease-free survival (HR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.64, P = 0.296) were comparable.

MIP is a safe and feasible approach for PNEN and is associated with a lower intraoperative blood loss, decreased postoperative stay and time to oral intake, at the expense of a longer operative time compared to OP.