Hepatic artery resection and reconstruction using the right gastroepiploic artery during pancreaticoduodenectomy in advanced pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: Surgical resection is the only curative treatment for pancreatic cancer. Arterial resection and reconstruction during pancreaticoduodenectomy for advanced pancreatic cancer remain controversial due to a high rate of complications.

Methods: We report two cases of pancreatic cancer with hepatic artery resection and reconstruction using the right gastroepiploic artery during pancreaticoduodenectomy after neoadjuvant therapy.

Results: The patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy with resection of the right hepatic and common hepatic arteries. Achieving direct anastomosis was difficult; therefore, we planned hepatic artery reconstruction using the right gastroepiploic artery. We performed the reconstruction using an interrupted suture with end-to-end anastomosis. The first patient developed a postoperative pancreatic fistula, while the postoperative course of the second patient was uneventful. However, there were no adverse events related to the arterial reconstruction. R0 resection was achieved, and postoperative computed tomography revealed good patency of the reconstructed artery.

Conclusion: Hepatic artery reconstruction using the right gastroepiploic artery in pancreatic cancer might be technically safe and might become one of the alternative options.