Pancreaticogastrostomy decreased relaparotomy caused by pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy compared with pancreaticojejunostomy.

Hypothesis: Pancreaticogastrostomy (PG) is associated with a lower relaparotomy rate following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) than pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ).

Design: Retrospective clinical trial.

Setting: Department of digestive surgery and transplantation.

Patients: Between 1987 and 2001, 250 consecutive patients underwent PD in our institution. Among them, 83 patients underwent PJ and 167, PG.

Main Outcome Measures: Preoperative clinicopathological features, intraoperative parameters, in-hospital mortality, postoperative morbidity, pancreatic fistula (PF), relaparotomy rates, and length of hospital stay were analyzed and compared between 2 reconstructive methods, PJ and PG, after PD.

Results: The morbidity rate, including PF, was lower in the PG group (38.3%) than in the PJ group (53.0%; P =.02). The mortality rate did not differ between the PG group (2.9%) and PJ group (2.4%). Conversely, the incidence of PF and the mean +/- SD length of hospital stay were significantly lower in the PG group (2.3% and 17.2 +/- 7.7 days) than in the PJ group (20.4% and 23.3 +/- 11.7 days; P<.001 for both variables). Moreover, the overall relaparotomy rate was significantly lower in the PG group (4.7%) than in the PJ group (18.0%; P =.001). Nine (52.9%) of 17 patients with PF in the PJ group underwent relaparotomy. These 9 patients underwent subsequent completion pancreatectomy (n = 7) or removal of peripancreatic necrotized tissue (n = 2) with a postoperative mortality rate of 22.2%. However, no patient required relaparotomy for PF in the PG group because medical therapy succeeded in all 4 patients with PF. Moreover, no mortality related to PF occurred in the PG group.

Conclusion: The PG procedure is a safe method of reconstruction after PD, with a significantly lower rate of PF and relaparotomy.