Surgery for periampullary and pancreatic carcinoma: a Liverpool experience

The development of a single-surgeon specialist referral practice for pancreatic surgery which evolved over an 8 year period is described. Source of referral, protocol for patient management, and operative strategy are outlined. Preoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic sphincterotomy, and stent placement where possible (85% of cases), high-resolution contrast-enhanced CT and standard pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy with a unique reconstructive technique were employed. In 105 patients receiving curative resection for pancreatic or periampullary tumours, the overall operative mortality was 4.8% and overall morbidity 26%. Actuarial 5-year survival rates were 11% for pancreatic carcinoma and 34% for ampullary carcinoma. Resectability rate was 81% without the use of time-consuming and expensive imaging techniques for staging such as laparoscopy, intraoperative ultrasound or laparoscopic ultrasound. No specific regimen of perioperative chemoirradiation was utilised over the study period. To achieve comparable results it is recommended that patients should be referred to regional specialist surgeons in whose hands mortality and morbidity is low, costs reduced and training of pancreatic surgeons can be undertaken.