Laparoscopic pancreatic resection: some benefits of evolving surgical techniques

Laparoscopic pancreatic resection began to be reported in the first half of the 1990s, with subsequent reports focusing primarily on the safety and usefulness of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (Lap-DP) for benign and low-malignancy lesions of the pancreatic body and tail (such as chronic pancreatitis, neuroendocrine tumor, mucinous cystic neoplasm, and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm). Recently we have also begun to see retrospective case–control studies comparing these techniques with open surgery, with Lap-DP showing advantages not only in terms of esthetics related to the surgical wound, but also with regard to reduced intraoperative bleeding, postoperative recovery time, and days of postoperative hospitalization. Prospective randomized controlled trials are still needed for confirmation, but it appears likely that this technique will become a standard surgical procedure for the treatment of diseases of the pancreatic body and tail. In contrast, laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy (Lap-PD) remains controversial in the minds of many pancreatic surgeons. This is primarily due to the difficulty of laparoscopic reconstruction following resection. However, there have recently been a number of single-center reports on the use of this procedure in at least 20 patients per center, showing that Lap-PD is associated with considerable reduction in intraoperative bleeding. Our own experience has been similar. In carefully selected patients, we find Lap-PD to be a useful surgical procedure.