Outcomes of surgical treatment in chronic pancreatitis - a single centre study

Chronic pancreatitis (CP), a disease that develops as a result of repeated episodes of pancreatic inflammation and associated fibrosis, restricting functional exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function and causing severe upper abdominal pain. Treatment strategies include conservative therapy, consisting of a step-up approach with pharmacological and lifestyle modifications. For more advanced cases, endoscopic or surgical interventions are proposed. However, the exact role and qualification criteria for surgical management have not been established yet. In this cohort study, we analysed the results of surgical interventions in 388 patients with CP performed in the years 2004-2024 in our centre, including drainage procedures and resections. We assessed the overall results of the intervention, the possible complications (assessed by Clavien-Dindo classification), and the risk of occurrence. Also, the surgery results and the complication risk between the groups of patients who underwent respective procedures were compared. The findings indicate that surgery remains an important tool in CP management, and organ-preserving procedures may be successful in pain control and overall quality of life improvement. It is emphasised that personalised surgical strategies should be the basis of CP management, and the therapy choice must be established by an experienced multidisciplinary team consisting of gastroenterologists, endoscopists, radiologists, and surgeons.