Initial suction drainage decreases severe postoperative complications after pancreatic trauma: A cohort study

Few studies have addressed the question of which drain types are more beneficial for patients with pancreatic trauma (PT).

To investigate whether sustained low negative pressure irrigation (NPI) suction drainage is superior to closed passive gravity (PG) drainage in PT patients.

PT patients who underwent pancreatic surgery were enrolled consecutively at a referral trauma center from January 2009 to October 2021. The primary outcome was defined as the occurrence of severe complications (Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ Ⅲ_b). Multivariable logistic regression was used to model the primary outcome, and propensity score matching (PSM) was included in the regression-based sensitivity analysis.

In this study, 146 patients underwent initial PG drainage, and 50 underwent initial NPI suction drainage. In the entire cohort, a multivariable logistic regression model showed that the adjusted risk for severe complications was decreased with NPI suction drainage [14/50 (28.0%) vs 66/146 (45.2%); odds ratio (OR), 0.437; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.203-0.940]. After 1:1 PSM, 44 matched pairs were identified. The proportion of each operative procedure performed for pancreatic injury-related and other intra-abdominal organ injury-related cases was comparable in the matched cohort. NPI suction drainage still showed a lower risk for severe complications [11/44 (25.0%) vs 21/44 (47.7%); OR, 0.365; 95%CI: 0.148-0.901]. A forest plot revealed that NPI suction drainage was associated with a lower risk of Clavien-Dindo severity in most subgroups.

This study, based on one of the largest PT populations in a single high-volume center, revealed that initial NPI suction drainage could be recommended as a safe and effective alternative for managing complex PT patients.