Carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Morbidity and mortality of surgical procedures.

: This retrospective study analyses the peri-operative morbidity and mortality of 165 patients presenting with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas over a 5-year period. Patients clinically fit for surgery (84%) were subdivided into three main groups, namely: group I (6%) underwent pancreaticoduodenal resection; group II (42%) had locoregionally advanced disease; and group III (36%) with metastatic disease. The latter group was subdivided into groups IIIa (22%) without ascites and IIIb (14%) with ascites. In the palliative groups (II and III), 61% underwent operative biliary drainage procedures, 33% a combined biliary drainage and a duodenal bypass procedure and 5% a duodenal bypass only. Obstructive jaundice recurred in 3% of cases after operative biliary drainage. Only 7% of patients required a duodenal bypass during follow-up. The mortality rates after surgery were 22% following pancreaticoduodenectomy (group I), 1.5% for the palliative procedures in group II, but 17% in group IIIa patients with metastatic disease without ascites and 83% when ascites was present (group IIIb). This study demonstrates that patients with ascites, although clinically fit for surgery, had a prohibitively high operative mortality rate and represented a subgroup of patients better treated by non-operative methods. Surgical drainage of the biliary system in all other cases had acceptably low morbidity and mortality rates. A prophylactic duodenal bypass is not mandatory.