Preoperative Identification and Outcomes of Vascular Variants on Surgery for Chronic Pancreatitis

Surgeries for chronic pancreatitis are tailored based on disease process and either include parenchymal-preserving surgeries or total pancreatectomy with or without islet cell autotransplantation. It is critical to account for vascular variants as injuries to these are associated with short- and long-term morbidity and mortality. There is a lack of contemporary data on the true incidence of aberrant arterial anatomy, and it is likely to be underreported by nonhepatobiliary radiologists.

This study is a retrospective analysis of all patients undergoing pancreatic resections for chronic pancreatitis at the single center. The presence of vascular variants was compared between standard reporting and preoperative imaging review by a hepatobiliary radiologist and surgeon. Primary outcomes were operative time and blood loss.

Of the 72 pancreatic resections for chronic pancreatitis, 50 (69%) satisfied inclusion criteria. Three of fifty (6%) had vascular anomalies reported on standard reporting while 11 (22%) had vascular anomalies identified on preoperative imaging review and confirmed at surgery. Hence, only 27% of patients with variant vascular anatomy were reported on standard imaging. There was no significant difference in operative times or blood loss between those with and without known vascular anomalies.

Pancreatic resection is a complex undertaking as long-standing inflammation distorts anatomic planes and increases opportunity for inadvertent vascular injury especially if there are aberrant vessels. In this study, we found that anatomic vascular variants are oftentimes not reported. Dedicated surgical planning with review of cross-sectional imaging identified all cases of anatomic variants resulting in no difference in operative time or incidence of intraoperative hemorrhage.