Management of combined pancreatoduodenal injuries

From 1969 to 1985, 129 patients with combined pancreatoduodenal injuries were treated at one urban trauma center. A total of 104 patients (80.6%) had penetrating wounds, and multiple visceral and vascular injuries were usually associated with the pancreatoduodenal injury. Primary repair or resection of one or both organs coupled with pyloric exclusion and gastrojejunostomy (68 patients) and drainage was used in 79 patients (61.2%) in the entire study and in 59% (36 of 61) of all patients treated since 1976. Simple primary repair of one or both organs and drainage was performed in 31 patients (24%), whereas the remaining 19 patients (14.8%) had pancreatoduodenectomies (13 patients) or no repair before exsanguination (six patients). Major pancreatoduodenal complications occurring in the 108 patients surviving more than 48 hours included pancreatic fistulas (25.9%), intra-abdominal abscess formation (16.6%), and duodenal fistulas (6.5%). The overall mortality rate for the study was 29.5% (38 of 129). The acute mortality rate with these injuries will remain high secondary to injuries to associated organs and vascular structures. The morbidity and late mortality rates related to the moderate to severe pancreatoduodenal injury itself can be decreased by the addition of pyloric exclusion and gastrojejunostomy to the primary repairs.