Reinforced staplers for distal pancreatectomy.

Purpose: The safety and efficacy of reinforced staplers during distal pancreatectomy (DP) remain controversial because of the small sample size. This multicenter single-arm prospective study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of reinforced staplers with bioabsorbable material during DP.

Methods: Between October 2014 and August 2015, 121 patients scheduled for DP were enrolled in this study at 11 institutions in Japan. The primary endpoint was the incidence of clinically relevant pancreatic fistula. Protocol treatment was defined as "distal pancreatectomy using reinforced staplers."

Results: Per-protocol analysis of 105 patients was performed; 16 of the patients were excluded based on discontinuation of protocol treatment criteria. Clinically relevant pancreatic fistula occurred in 13 (12.4%) of 105 patients. The overall morbidity rate was 29.5% (31 of 105 patients) and severe complication (Clavien classification IIIa or more) was 10.5% (11/105). Mortality rate was 0%, although reoperations were performed on two patients (1.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of independent risk factors for clinically relevant pancreatic fistula after DP using reinforced stapler closure was operative time more than 240 min (P = 0.047, odds ratio 5.79), registration numbers less than 10 (P = 0.046, odds ratio 13.01), and staple line hemorrhage (P = 0.003, odds ratio 16.34).

Conclusion: This study confirms the safety of reinforced staplers for pancreatic stump closure during DP. However, the efficacy of reinforced staplers for decreasing clinically relevant pancreatic fistula could not be drawn from this study.

Trial Registration: This prospective study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02270554) and UMIN Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN000015384).