Several metabolic consequences are co-related with the apancreatic state, which characterizes the patients who underwent TP. Certainly, the most known and investigated sequel is diabetes. As defined by the American Diabetes Association, patients who underwent TP suffer from a type 3c diabetes, also called pancreatogenic diabetes [
18]. In this form of diabetes, the glycemic control may be labile due to the loss of not only the insulin production, but particularly due to the loss of glucagon secretion [
19]. The combination of insulin sensitivity and hypoglycemic unawareness, characteristic of this condition, is known as “brittle” diabetes [
20]. It exposes patients who have undergone TP to short- and long-term life-threatening complications. In a recent series from Mayo Clinic, the large majority of patients undergoing TP (89 %) required a complex insulin regimen to maintain acceptable glycemic control. Seventy nine of them experienced episodes of hypoglycemia and 41 % of severe hypoglycemia. The resuscitation of these patients was possible by family members or co-workers only in 27 % of the cases, while the remaining 73 % required medical intervention or hospitalization [
3]. Significant late mortality (3 %) due to hypoglycemic episodes has been reported by other authors [
11]. The nonoptimal glycemic control is also the cause for chronic complications in the specific target organs. In the Mayo Clinic, the total cohort of patients who underwent TP experienced retinopathy in 3 %, neuropathy in 5 %, nephropathy in 4 %, cerebrovascular diseases in 1 %, cardiovascular diseases in 11 % [
3].
The medical treatment of type 3c diabetes may be challenging. Insulin infusion pumps seem to improve the glycemic control and reduce the attacks of hypoglycemia [
21]. However, evidence is lacking on the effect of this kind of treatment on the long-term complications of diabetes. The addition of glucagon injection to the insulin regimen seems to be advantageous in reducing the hypoglycemic episodes, but so far, only limited evidence about its usage is available [
22].
Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) is another consequence of TP. Even with high dose of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, a significant part of the patients who have undergone TP still suffer from steatorrhea, with consequent malabsorption, thus complicating further the already fragile management of diabetes [
23]. PEI requires a lifelong substitutive treatment with pancreas enzymes [
24]. However, the enzyme substitution in the majority of patients might not be enough to completely restore the normal digestion. A considerable number of the patients are thus undertreated for this problem, with underestimated and undiagnosed subclinical malnutrition even in the absence of steatorrhea [
25]. Furthermore, alteration of the gastrointestinal motility is a well-known digestive disturbance associated with the development of severe exocrine insufficiency, but its role in post-pancreatectomy patients has not been investigated.