Surgical complications of the Thomas pancreatic fistula

This report describes the surgical complications of the Thomas pancreatic fistula in 23 dogs used for experiments for up to 1 year. Twenty animals survived the operation of cannula placement. The two complications noted were subcutaneous retraction of the cannula (nine of 40 cannulas) between 2 and 6 weeks, which was easily corrected, and displacement of the cannula from the gut lumen, which occurred eight times. Complete loss of the duodenal cannula was rapidly fatal. Partial displacement was corrected four times, with one death, using a specially developed technique. One lost gastric cannula was also replaced successfully. Corrective surgery for surgical complications of the Thomas fistula is feasible and has a high success rate. The preparation has a good long-term survival and so is suitable when repeated experiments in the same animals are required over a period of several months.