“How I do It” Session of the Pancreas Club

Excerpt

One of the few things that is guaranteed to spur controversy among surgeons is the discussion of new surgical procedures. On Sunday, May 21, 2006, the Pancreas Club held its 40th Annual Meeting, at the UCLA Faculty Center in Los Angeles. The topic for this year’s “How I do It” symposium was Middle Pancreatectomy. This operation, which has also been referred to as median, segmental, and central, was first described in Europe in 1993, and five years later in the United States. A PubMed search yielded 27 papers on this topic, including some novel aspects such as various reconstruction techniques and a laparoscopic approach. Claudio Bassi, from Verona, Italy, gave an excellent description of the surgical technique and highlighted the PRO side, whereas Howard Reber, our host at UCLA, gave a very thoughtful presentation on the CON side. This was followed by a hearty discussion from the audience. …