Pancreaticoduodenectomy in the era of evidence based medicine

The aim of this comprehensive literature review was to analyse evidence based data in the field of pancreaticoduodenectomy. Pylorus preserving does reduce mortality or morbidity of the standard procedure and could increase the risk of delayed gastric emptying. Pancreaticogastrostomy does not decrease the rate of postoperative pancreatic fistula and is not superior to the pancreaticojejunal anastomosis which is more physiological. No other procedure (chemical occlusion, octreotide, stenting) has been demonstrated to prevent pancreatic fistula. Octreotide injection could be advocated in centres where there is a high rate of pancreatic fistula, when pancreatic parenchyma is soft and the main pancreatic duct thin. Intra-abdominal drainage is not beneficial and could be associated with some morbidity. Its use needs to be further evaluated. When a resection is done for pancreatic cancer, less than 5% of patients are a live five years after surgery with postoperative mortality rate of 5% in expert centres and a high morbidity rate (25-50%). Extended lymphadenectomy does not increase survival. The first trials showed that adjuvant therapies could be beneficial for pancreatic cancers, but further trials did not confirm these findings. Adjuvant therapy is not validated for pancreatic cancers and needs to be considered only in the settings of clinical trials.