Surgical treatment of pancreatitis]

The management of pancreatitis remained controversial over the past decades, varying from conservative medical treatment to surgical treatment. However, in recent years, treatment of severe acute pancreatitis is shifting from an early surgical debridement and necrosectomy to an aggressive intensive medical care. While the treatment is conservative in the earlier phase of the disease, surgery might be considered in the later phase. In chronic pancreatitis and in pancreatic pseudocyst, various surgical approaches are available these days. Apart from the conventional open surgery, laparoscopic procedure became popular since it is minimally invasive and effective. In addition, with the great improvements in interventional radiology and endoscopic techniques, multidisciplinary approaches including medical, interventional, and surgical management become much more important in the proper treatment of pancreatitis. In this review, pancreatitis is classified into three categories (acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic pseudocyst) for convenience, and the surgical treatment is described in each category.     

Acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas. Acute abdominal pain is the most common symptom, and increased concentrations of serum amylase and lipase confirm the diagnosis. Pancreatic injury is mild in 80% of patients, who recover without complications. The remaining patients have a severe disease with local and systemic complications. Gallstone migration into the common bile duct and alcohol abuse are the most frequent causes of pancreatitis in adults. About 15-25% of pancreatitis episodes are of unknown origin. Treatment of mild disease is supportive, but severe episodes need management by a multidisciplinary team including gastroenterologists, interventional radiologists, intensivists, and surgeons. Improved understanding of pathophysiology and better assessments of disease severity should ameliorate the management and outcome of this complex disease.     

各型胰腺假性囊肿的治疗策略及预后判断

目的 分析各种急性和慢性胰腺假性囊肿(PPs)的特征和预后,探讨侵入性治疗PPs的预测因子.方法 回顾性分析1995年1月至2004年12月日本医科大学诊治的36例PPs患者的临床资料.将患者分成急性胰腺炎并发的PPs自发缓解组(急性缓解组);急性胰腺炎并发的PPs症状持续或有并发症需要侵入治疗组(急性治疗组);慢性胰腺炎并发的PPs自发缓解组(慢性缓解组)和慢性胰腺炎并发的PPs症状持续或有并发症需要侵入治疗组(慢性治疗组),每组9例.结果 36例患者中,女性13例,男性23例.胰腺炎病因:酒精性18例(50.0%),胆源性8例(22.2%),其他原因10例(27.8%).平均随访时间(24.2±18.5)个月.绝大多数囊肿(32/36,88.9%)与主胰管不相交通;各组囊肿数量、部位均无显著差异;慢性缓解组囊肿直径最小,均<4 cm,显著小于其他3组(P<0.05);两缓解组的囊肿多数无增大,而两治疗组的囊肿绝大多数有增大;急性治疗组中4例(44.4%)囊壁增厚(>2～3cm),慢性治疗组中1例(11.1%)囊壁增厚,余囊壁正常.急性PPs的病因多为胆源性,多数位于胰尾,而且这些患者的体表指数、囊肿大小、确诊时有PPs相关症状的例数均显著高于慢性PPs.结论 随访期间PPs体积增大强烈提示需要侵入治疗.慢性PPs囊肿直径<4 cm是预后良好的指标,急性PPs直径<8 cm是自然消退的指标.     

Evaluating pain and the quality of life in chronic pancreatitis

Summary Chronic pancreatitis is a painful disease, ranging between uncomplicated courses with recurrent pain but longer pain-free intervals and complicated courses with constant intractable pain or frequent severe attacks of pain. Several factors, including intrapancreatic and extrapancreatic abnormalities, contribute to pain in chronic pancreatitis, and their relative contribution may vary from patient to patient. The natural course of pain is modified by the use of analgesic drugs, by interventional treatment modalities, and by operative procedures. Since standards for the evaluation are lacking, treatment results have been evaluated following very different scales and protocols. Interdisciplinary controlled clinical trials comparing interventional and operative treatment are not yet available. For future studies, it seems necessary to recruit patients following a standardized clinically based staging system, to assess treatment results following standardized measures for pain and quality of life. For these purposes, such a staging system is proposed, and the application of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life (QLQ) questionnaire is suggested.     

Necrotizing pancreatitis: Indications for surgery and surgical techniques

The term, “acute pancreatitis”, covers in terms of clinical, pathological, biochemical and bacteriological data, different entities in regard to the natural course of the disease. Interstitial edematous pancreatitis and necrotizing pancreatitis are the most frequent clinical manifestations; pancreatic abscess and postacute pseudocyst are late complications, mostly of necrotizing pancreatitis, developing after 3–5 weeks. The first choice of treatment is non-surgical management, even in patients with a severe complicated course of the disease. Patients who develop surgical acute abdomen, clinical sepsis syndrome, shock syndrome, or a severe type of mechanical or adynamic ileus must be treated surgically. Patients who do not respond to maximum intensive care measures for pulmonary, renal, cardiocirculatory, and metabolic dysfunction are candidates for surgical treatment, despite the possibility of sterile necrosis causing systemic complications. Surgical treatment is indicated in patients with infected necrosis, debridement and continuous closed lavage or open packing with re-operation being the most accepted treatment protoclos. When necrosectomy/debridement plus closed postoperative lavage was employed as a standard surgical treatment, hospital mortality was less than 20% in patients with infected necrosis as well as those with sterile necrosis. In pancreatic abscess and postacute pseudocyst, the treatment of first choice is intervention via ultrasound- or CT-guided percutaneous puncture and drainage of the abscess cavity. However, the majority of patients with a pancreatic abscess, treated interventionally, are candidates for a surgical drainage procedure because the interventional drainage fails to control the sepsis rapidly.     

Acute necrotizing pancreatitis complicated with pancreatic pseudoaneurysm of the superior mesenteric artery： A case report

Acute necrotizing pancreatitis complicated with pancreatic pseudoaneurysm is a rare emergency associated with high mortality that demands immediate treatment to save the patient’s life. We treated a 64-year-old man who presented with a bleeding pseudoaneurysm of the superior mesenteric artery caused by acute pancreatitis, using interventional embolizing therapy. In the present report we show that interventional treatment is an effective therapeutic modality for patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis complicated with intra-abdominal bleeding.     

Severe acute pancreatitis： Clinical course and management

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) develops in about 25% of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). Severity of AP is linked to the presence of systemic organ dysfunctions and/or necrotizing pancreatitis pathomorphologically. Risk factors determining independently the outcome of SAP are early multi-organ failure, infection of necrosis and extended necrosis (> 50%). Up to one third of patients with necrotizing pancreatitis develop in the late course infection of necroses. Morbidity of SAP is biphasic, in the first week strongly related to early and persistence of organ or multi-organ dysfunction. Clinical sepsis caused by infected necrosis leading to multi-organ failure syndrome (MOFS) occurs in the later course after the first week. To predict sepsis, MOFS or deaths in the first 48-72 h, the highest predictive accuracy has been objectified for procalcitonin and IL-8; the Sepsis- Related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA)-score predicts the outcome in the first 48 h, and provides a daily assessment of treatment response with a high positive predictive value. Contrast-enhanced CT provides the highest diagnostic accuracy for necrotizing pancreatitis when performed after the first week of disease. Patients who suffer early organ dysfunctions or at risk of developing a severe disease require early intensive care treatment. Early vigorous intravenous fluid replacement is of foremost importance. The goal is to decrease the hematocrit or restore normal cardiocirculatory functions. Antibiotic prophylaxis has not been shown as an effective preventive treatment. Early enteral feeding is based on a high level of evidence, resulting in a reduction of local and systemic infection. Patients suffering infected necrosis causing clinical sepsis, pancreatic abscess or surgical acute abdomen are candidates for early intervention. Hospital mortality of SAP after interventional or surgical debridement has decreased in high volume centers to below 20%.     

Interventional strategies in infected necrotizing pancreatitis: Indications,timing, and outcomes

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases and remains a life-threatening condition. Although AP resolves to restitutio ad integrum in approximately 80% of patients, it can progress to necrotizing pancreatitis (NP). NP is associated with superinfection in a third of patients, leading to an increase in mortality rate of up to 40%. Accurate and early diagnosis of NP and associated complications, as well as state-of-the-art therapy are essential to improve patient prognoses. The emerging role of endoscopy and recent trials on multidisciplinary management of NP established the “step-up approach”. This approach starts with endoscopic interventions and can be escalated to other interventional and ultimately surgical procedures if required. Studies showed that this approach decreases the incidence of new multiple-organ failure as well as the risk of interventional complications. However, the optimal interventional sequence and timing of interventional procedures remain controversial. This review aims to summarize the indications, timing, and treatment outcomes for infected NP and to provide guidance on multidisciplinary decision-making.     

Interventionelle Therapieverfahren bei akuter nekrotisierender Pankreatitis

The clinical course of acute pancreatitis is variable. Severe pancreatitis is observed in up to 20% of cases and is associated with high mortality rates of up to 40%. The most serious complication is the infection of the (peri-)pancreatic necroses. The therapeutic goal is debridement of the infected material. Whereas surgical methods still represent the gold standard, minimally invasive interventional approaches are gaining importance. This article reviews the different interventional procedures, particularly percutaneous, CT-guided drainage and necrosectomy. Furthermore, an overview of published studies about interventional therapy in patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis is given.     

Diagnostik und Therapie der chronischen Pankreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis is defined as a recurrent inflammation of the pancreas that leads to loss of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function. Its most common cause is alcohol abuse. Hereditary pancreatitis is a form of pancreatitis that mostly has an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance and is characterised by a phenotypic penetrance of up to 80%. Patients with hereditary pancreatitis have a markedly elevated lifetime risk of developing pancreatic cancer. As there is still no causal treatment, therapy focuses on pain control and replacement therapy for endocrine and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. In 30–60% of patients disease-associated complications such as persistent pain, strictures of the common bile duct or pancreatic duct stones develop, which may require either interventional or surgical treatment.     

Management of acute pancreatitis in clinical practice. ProInf - A.I.S.P. Study Group. Progetto Informatizzato Pancreatite Acuta--Associazione Italiana Studio Pancreas

Over the last few years, remarkable progress has been made in diagnosis, severity assessment and treatment as well as in our understanding of the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis. New treatment modalities and new specific drugs have been introduced and this has led to practical changes in the daily bedside management of patients with acute pancreatitis. Treatment is essentially medical, both for mild and severe disease, and is aimed at reducing abdominal pain, restoring electrolyte and fluid losses, removing the aetiological factor(s), attenuating inflammation and autodigestive processes, as well as preventing local and systemic complications. Diagnostic and interventional percutaneous or endoscopic procedures are indicated mainly for patients with severe forms of the disease. Surgery is generally indicated for patients with necrosis infection or other local complications not manageable by percutaneous or endoscopic means.     

Features and Choice of Treatment of Acute and Chronic Pancreatic Pseudocysts — with Special Reference to Invasive Intervention

Aims: It was the aim of this study to characterize the features of acute and chronic pancreatic pseudocysts (PPs) and to identify the factors predictive of the need for invasive treatment. Methods: Thirty-six patients with PPs treated at Nippon Medical School between January 1995 and December 2004 were studied retrospectively. The cases were divided into 4 groups based on 4 features: association with acute pancreatitis, association with chronic pancreatitis, spontaneous resolution, and persistent symptoms requiring therapeutic intervention. Group 1 included 9 patients with acute PPs which resolved spontaneously. Group 2 included 9 patients with acute PPs with persistent symptoms or associated complications requiring interventional treatment. Group 3 included 9 patients with chronic PPs which resolved spontaneously, and group 4 included 9 patients with chronic PPs with persistent symptoms or associated complications requiring interventional treatment. Results: Among the 36 patients, 13 were women and 23 were men. The etiologies were pancreatitis due to alcoholism in 18 cases (50.0%), biliary tract disease in 8 cases (22.2%) and other conditions in 10 cases (27.8%). The average duration of follow-up was 24.2 ± 18.5 months. The patients in group 1 were significantly older than those in group 2 (67.6 ± 16.1 vs. 40.6 ± 14.1 years; p = 0.011). The mean size of the PPs was significantly larger in groups 1 and 4 than in group 3 (p < 0.05) and significantly larger in group 2 than in group 4 (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between groups 1 and 2 in the size of the PPs or in the Ranson score of previous pancreatitis. The increase in size of the PPs during follow-up in each of the spontaneously resolved groups (groups 1 and 3) differed significantly from that in each of the interventional treatment groups (groups 2 and 4; p < 0.05). The main cause of the acute pancreatitis in group 1 was biliary tract disease, while that in group 2 was alcoholism (significantly different, p < 0.05). The number of patients with symptoms related to pseudocysts at the time of diagnosis was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 3. Conclusions: Growth of the PPs during follow-up is the strongest predictor of the need for invasive treatment in both acute and chronic cases. Among acute PPs, the size of the pseudocyst is not in itself a predictor of invasive treatment. Invasive treatment may pose higher risks for pseudocysts with an etiology of alcoholic acute pancreatitis. However, the size of the pseudocyst may be a more important prognostic factor than an etiology of pancreatitis.     

Therapeutic intervention and surgery of acute pancreatitis

The clinical course of acute pancreatitis varies from mild to severe. Assessment of severity and etiology of acute pancreatitis is important to determine the strategy of management for acute pancreatitis. Acute pancreatitis is classified according to its morphology into edematous pancreatitis and necrotizing pancreatitis. Edematous pancreatitis accounts for 80–90% of acute pancreatitis and remission can be achieved in most of the patients without receiving any special treatment. Necrotizing pancreatitis occupies 10–20% of acute pancreatitis and the mortality rate is reported to be 14–25%. The mortality rate is particularly high (34–40%) for infected pancreatic necrosis that is accompanied by bacterial infection in the necrotic tissue of the pancreas (Widdison and Karanjia in Br J Surg 80:148–154, 1993; Ogawa et al. in Research of the actual situations of acute pancreatitis. Research Group for Specific Retractable Diseases, Specific Disease Measure Research Work Sponsored by Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. Heisei 12 Research Report, pp 17–33, 2001). On the other hand, the mortality rate is reported to be 0–11% for sterile pancreatic necrosis which is not accompanied by bacterial infection (Ogawa et al. 2001; Bradely and Allen in Am J Surg 161:19–24, 1991; Rattner et al. in Am J Surg 163:105–109, 1992). The Japanese (JPN) Guidelines were designed to provide recommendations regarding the management of acute pancreatitis in patients having a variety of clinical characteristics. This article describes the guidelines for the surgical management and interventional therapy of acute pancreatitis by incorporating the latest evidence for the management of acute pancreatitis in the Japanese-language version of JPN guidelines 2010. Eleven clinical questions (CQ) are proposed: (1) worsening clinical manifestations and hematological data, positive blood bacteria culture test, positive blood endotoxin test, and the presence of gas bubbles in and around the pancreas on CT scan are indirect findings of infected pancreatic necrosis; (2) bacteriological examination by fine needle aspiration is useful for making a definitive diagnosis of infected pancreatic necrosis; (3) conservative treatment should be performed in sterile pancreatic necrosis; (4) infected pancreatic necrosis is an indication for interventional therapy. However, conservative treatment by antibiotic administration is also available in patients who are in stable general condition; (5) early surgery for necrotizing pancreatitis is not recommended, and it should be delayed as long as possible; (6) necrosectomy is recommended as a surgical procedure for infected necrosis; (7) after necrosectomy, a long-term follow-up paying attention to pancreatic function and complications including the stricture of the bile duct and the pancreatic duct is necessary; (8) drainage including percutaneous, endoscopic and surgical procedure should be performed for pancreatic abscess; (9) if the clinical findings of pancreatic abscess are not improved by percutaneous or endoscopic drainage, surgical drainage should be performed; (10) interventional treatment should be performed for pancreatic pseudocysts that give rise to symptoms, accompany complications or increase the diameter of cysts and (11) percutaneous drainage, endoscopic drainage or surgical procedures are selected in accordance with the conditions of individual cases.     

Pancreatic duct stones in chronic pancreatitis: criteria for treatment intensity and success

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate interventional endoscopic management of pancreatic duct stones in patients with chronic pancreatitis by describing therapeutic methods and defining factors that predict technical success. METHODS: Records were retrospectively analyzed for 125 patients with symptoms caused by chronic pancreatitis with pancreatic duct stones (single 43, multiple 82) treated by interventional endoscopy, including extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in 85% of patients (11 patients by mechanical lithotripsy, 114 by piezoelectric extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy). There were no serious complications from lithotripsy. Univariate analysis disclosed a statistically significant association between treatment success and patient age as well as prepapillary location of stones. A greater therapeutic effort was necessary in patients with stones located in the tail of the pancreas, 2 or more stones, a stone 12 mm or more in diameter, or who have had a longer duration (>8 years) of the disease. However, with exception of the last parameter, correction for multiple testing of data removed statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy enhances endoscopic measures for treatment of pancreatic duct stones when mechanical lithotripsy fails. Middle-aged patients in the early stages of chronic pancreatitis with stones in a prepapillary location proved to be the best candidates for successful treatment. Unfavorable patient-related or morphologic factors can be compensated for through more intense efforts at therapy.     

Akute Pankreatitis

Severe pancreatitis is characterized by organ failure or sepsis and is present in approximately 20% of patients. The severity of the disease is difficult to judge at onset. Mild disease is present in patients with normal urea, hematocrit and blood glucose. Patients should be treated in an intensive care unit. Enteral nutrition is now obligatory. The role of prophylactic antibiotics in necrotizing pancreatitis is unclear. High dose analgesics may be used, including opioids. The treatment of infected necrosis should be performed not earlier than 3 weeks when the necrosis has become demarcated. The primary interventional procedure is superior to a surgical approach. Nevertheless, this disease has a mortality of approximately 15%.     

Alcoholic pancreatitis:A tale of spirits and bacteria

Alcohol is a major cause of chronic pancreatitis.About5%of alcoholics will ever suffer from pancreatitis,suggesting that additional co-factors are required to trigger an overt disease.Experimental work has implicated lipopolysaccharide,from gut-derived bacteria,as a potential co-factor of alcoholic pancreatitis.This review discusses the effects of alcohol on the gut flora,the gut barrier,the liver-and the pancreas and proposes potential interventional strategies.A better understanding of the interaction between the gut,the liver and the pancreas may provide valuable insight into the pathophysiology of alcoholic pancreatitis.     

Surgical treatment for relief of severe pain with chronic pancreatitis that is resistant to conservative treatment

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the surgical treatment, we investigated that performed for chronic pancreatitis patients suffering from severe pain resistant to conservative treatments. METHODOLOGY: Nineteen chronic pancreatitis patients with severe pain resistant for a long time to previous conservative medical and/or interventional treatments underwent surgery retrospectively. We evaluated a difference of postoperative improvement of symptoms in patients with surgical treatment including nerve plexus resection. RESULTS: The mean follow-up interval after surgery was 59.7 months (range, 3.0-187.3 months). Of 19 patients, 14 (73.7%) underwent nerve plexus resection. Relief of symptoms was observed in 16 of 19 patients (84.2%). Fourteen of the 15 patients (93.3%) in the nerve plexus resection group were relieved of symptoms after surgery, compared to only two of four (50.0%) patients in the nerve plexus non-resection group. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatments with nerve plexus resection appropriately matched with individual patients are very safe and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life for chronic pancreatitis patients resistant to conservative treatments.     

Treatment of benign biliary strictures in chronic pancreatitis by self-expandable metal stents

AIM: To determine the efficacy the value of self-expandable metal stents in patients with benign biliary strictures caused by chronic pancreatitis. METHOD: 61 patients with symptomatic common bile duct strictures caused by alcoholic chronic pancreatitis were treated by interventional endoscopy. RESULTS: Initial endoscopic drainage was successful in all cases, with complete resolution of obstructive jaundice. Of 45 patients who needed definitive therapy after a 12-months interval of interventional endoscopy, 12 patients were treated with repeated plastic stent insertion (19.7%) or by surgery (n = 30; 49.2%). In 3 patients a self-expandable metal stent was inserted into the common bile duct (4.9%). In patients treated with metal stents, no symptoms of biliary obstruction occurred during a mean follow-up period of 37 (range 18-53) months. The long-term success rate of treatment with metal stents was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic drainage of biliary obstruction by self-expandable metal stents provides excellent long-term results. To identify patients who benefit most from self-expandable metal stent insertion, further, prospective randomized studies are necessary.     

Fundamental and intensive care of acute pancreatitis

Patients who have been diagnosed as having acute pancreatitis should be, on principle, hospitalized. Crucial fundamental management is required soon after a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis has been made and includes monitoring of the conscious state, the respiratory and cardiovascular system, the urinary output, adequate fluid replacement and pain control. Along with such management, etiologic diagnosis and severity assessment should be conducted. Patients with a diagnosis of severe acute pancreatitis should be transferred to a medical facility where intensive respiratory and cardiovascular management as well as interventional treatment, blood purification therapy and nutritional support are available. The disease condition in acute pancreatitis changes every moment and even symptoms that are mild at the time of diagnosis may become severe later. Therefore, severity assessment should be conducted repeatedly at least within 48 h following diagnosis. An adequate dose of fluid replacement is essential to stabilize cardiovascular dynamics and the dose should be adjusted while assessing circulatory dynamics constantly. A large dose of fluid replacement is usually required in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Prophylactic antibiotic administration is recommended to prevent infectious complications in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Although the efficacy of intravenous administration of protease inhibitors is still a matter of controversy, there is a consensus in Japan that a large dose of a synthetic protease inhibitor should be given to patients with severe acute pancreatitis in order to prevent organ failure and other complications. Enteral feeding is superior to parenteral nutrition when it comes to the nutritional support of patients with severe acute pancreatitis. The JPN Guidelines recommend, as optional continuous regional arterial infusion and blood purification therapy.     

ERCP in acute pancreatitis: What takes place in routine clinical practice?

AIM: To evaluate the data from a survey carried out in Italy regarding the endoscopic approach to acute pancreatitis in order to obtain a picture of what takes place after the release of an educational project on acute pancreatitis sponsored by the Italian Association for the Study of the Pancreas.METHODS: Of the 1 173 patients enrolled in our survey, the most frequent etiological category was biliary forms (69.3%) and most patients had mild pancreatitis (85.8%).RESULTS: 344/1 173 (29.3%) underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The mean interval between the onset of symptoms and ERCP was 6.7 ± 5.0 d; only 89 examinations (25.9%) were performed within 72 h from the onset of symptoms. The main indications for ERCP were suspicion of common bile duct stones (90.3%), jaundice (44.5%), clinical worsening of acute pancreatitis (14.2%) and cholangitis (6.1%). Biliary and pancreatic ducts were visualized in 305 patients (88.7%) and in 93 patients (27.0%) respectively. The success rate in obtaining a cholangiogram was statistically higher (P = 0.003) in patients with mild acute pancreatitis (90.6%) than in patients with severe disease (72.2%). Biliary endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed in 295 of the 305 patients (96.7%) with no difference between mild and severe disease (P = 0.985). ERCP morbidity was 6.1% and mortality was 1.7%; the mortality was due to the complications of acute pancreatitis and not the endoscopic procedure.CONCLUSION: The results of this survey, as with those carried out in other countries, indicate a lack of compliance with the guidelines for the indications for interventional endoscopy.