Additional Organ Resection Combined with Pancreaticoduodenectomy does not Increase Postoperative Morbidity and Mortality

The mortality associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) has decreased substantially in recent times, but high morbidity continues to be a significant problem. With reductions in mortality, there is increasing willingness to combine organ resections with PD when indicated. There is, however, a paucity of information regarding the morbidity and mortality of multivisceral resection (MVR) that involves pancreaticoduodenectomy (MVR-PD).

Patients undergoing PD between January 2002 and November 2007 by a single surgeon were reviewed and perioperative outcomes determined. Those treated by PD alone were compared to those undergoing MVR-PD.

There were 105 patients overall who underwent PD during the study period, with MVR-PD performed in 19 patients. Twelve (63%) patients required PD combined with right colectomy, two (11%) underwent PD combined with right nephrectomy, two (11%) required liver resection with PD, and the remaining three (16%) had various combinations of kidney, colon, adrenal and small bowel resection in addition to PD. In both groups, the main indication for surgery was pancreatic cancer; however, there were proportionally more patients in the MVR-PD group with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (two (11%) patients), sarcomas (two (11%) patients) and metastases to the periampullary region (three (16%) patients). The overall complication rate in this study was 60%. Delayed gastric emptying (39%) and pancreatic fistula (16%) were the most common complications. There was no significant difference in complications between the two groups. A non pylorus-preserving PD was more commonly performed in cases of MVR-PD (53% vs 28%; p = 0.007), operating times were longer (9.5 vs 8 h; p = 0.002), and surgical intensive care unit stay was greater (2 vs 1 days; p < 0.001). The overall median length of hospital stay (7 days) and readmission rate were similar between the groups.

MVR-PD can be performed without significant added morbidity compared to PD alone. The main indication for MVR-PD is locally advanced pancreatic cancer requiring PD combined with right hemicolectomy.