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Pancreaticoduodenectomy

A pancreaticoduodenectomy, pancreatoduodenectomy, Whipple procedure, or Kausch-Whipple procedure is a major surgical operation most often performed to remove cancerous tumours off the head of the pancreas. It is also used for the treatment of pancreatic or duodenal trauma, or chronic pancreatitis. Due to the shared blood supply of organs in the proximal gastrointestinal system, surgical removal of the head of the pancreas also necessitates removal of the duodenum, proximal jejunum, gallbladder, and, occasionally, part of the stomach. A pancreaticoduodenectomy, pancreatoduodenectomy, Whipple procedure, or Kausch-Whipple procedure is a major surgical operation most often performed to remove cancerous tumours off the head of the pancreas. It is also used for the treatment of pancreatic or duodenal trauma, or chronic pancreatitis. Due to the shared blood supply of organs in the proximal gastrointestinal system, surgical removal of the head of the pancreas also necessitates removal of the duodenum, proximal jejunum, gallbladder, and, occasionally, part of the stomach. The most common technique of a pancreaticoduodenectomy consists of the en bloc removal of the distal segment (antrum) of the stomach, the first and second portions of the duodenum, the head of the pancreas, the common bile duct, and the gallbladder. Lymph nodes in the area are often removed during the operation as well (lymphadenectomy). However, not all lymph nodes are removed in the most common type of pancreaticoduodenectomy because studies showed that patients did not benefit from the more extensive surgery. At the very beginning of the procedure, after the surgeons have gained access to the abdomen, the surfaces of the peritoneum and the liver are inspected for disease that has metastasized. This is an important first step as the presence of active metastatic disease is a contraindication to performing the operation. The vascular supply of the pancreas is from the celiac artery via the superior pancreaticoduodenal artery and the superior mesenteric artery from the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery. There are additional smaller branches given off by the right gastric artery which is also derived from the celiac artery. The reason for the removal of the duodenum along with the head of the pancreas is that they share the same arterial blood supply (the superior pancreaticoduodenal artery and inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery). These arteries run through the head of the pancreas, so that both organs must be removed if the single blood supply is severed. If only the head of the pancreas were removed it would compromise blood flow to the duodenum, resulting in tissue necrosis. While blood supply to the liver is left intact, the common bile duct is removed. This means that while the liver remains with a good blood supply the surgeon must make a new connection to drain bile produced in the liver. This is done at the end of the surgery. The surgeon will make a new attachment between the pancreatic duct and the jejunum or stomach. During the surgery a cholecystectomy is performed to remove the gallbladder. This portion is not done en bloc, as the gallbladder is removed separately. Relevant nearby anatomy not removed during the procedure include the major vascular structures in the area: the portal vein, the superior mesenteric vein, and the superior mesenteric artery, the inferior vena cava. These structures are important to consider in this operation especially if done for resection of a tumor located in the head of the pancreas. If the tumor encases (wraps around 50% or more of the vessel) the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, or inferior vena cava it is considered unresectable due to the lack of patient benefit from the operation while having very high risk. Occasionally a portion of the superior mesenteric vein or portal vein is attached or inseparable from the tumor. In this setting vascular surgeons resect the involved portion of the vessel, and the vessel is repaired either via end-to-end anastomosis, repair of the side wall of the vein, or a vein graft. Pancreaticoduodenectomy is most often performed as curative treatment for periampullary cancer, which include cancer of the bile duct, duodenum or head of the pancreas. The shared blood supply of the pancreas, duodenum and common bile duct, necessitates en bloc resection of these multiple structures. Other indications for pancreaticoduodenectomy include chronic pancreatitis, benign tumors of the pancreas, cancer metastatic to the pancreas, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Pancreaticoduodenectomy is the only potentially curative intervention for malignant tumors of the pancreas. However, the majority of patients with pancreatic cancer present with metastatic or locally advanced unresectable disease; thus only 15-20% of patients are candidates for the Whipple procedure. Surgery may follow neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which aims to shrink the tumor and increasing the likelihood of complete resection. Post-operative death and complications associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy have become less common over the past 20 years, with rates of post-operative mortality falling from 10-30% in the 1980s, to less than 5% in the 2000s. Cholangiocarcinoma, or cancer of the bile duct, is an indication for the Whipple procedure when the cancer is present in the distal biliary system, usually the common bile duct that drains into the duodenum. Depending on the location and extension of the cholangiocarcinoma, curative surgical resection may require hepatectomy, or removal of part of the liver, with or without pancreaticoduodenectomy.

[ "Pancreas", "Resection", "whipple resection", "Pancreaticojejunal anastomosis", "Pancreatic neck", "Pancreatic Anastomotic Leakage", "laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy" ]
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