Use of the peritoneum or the round ligament of the liver in radical surgery for pancreatic cancer.

Background: At present, the materials commonly used for venous reconstruction in radical surgery for pancreatic cancer combined with vascular reconstruction include artificial blood vessels, autologous veins, and allogeneic blood vessels, but these materials all have their own disadvantages. In contrast, the use of the peritoneum and the round ligament of the liver for radical surgery for pancreatic cancer combined with vascular reconstruction provides new options.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was performed. Clinical data were collected from 11 patients (5 males and 6 females with a median age of 62 years and an age range of 48-72 years) who underwent pancreatic cancer surgery combined with resection and reconstruction of the portal vein (PV) and superior mesenteric vein (SMV) using the peritoneum (including the round ligament of the liver) from November 2018 to November 2020 in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and the Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Shaoxing University. Intraoperative conditions and postoperative conditions were observed. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 Normally distributed measurement data are expressed as the mean ± SD, whereas nonnormally distributed measurement data are expressed as the median (range). Count data are expressed as absolute numbers.

Results: (I) Intraoperative condition: all 11 patients completed the operation successfully, including total pancreatectomy (TP) in 4 patients and pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) in 7 patients. In the 11 patients, the duration of surgery was 503±183 min, and the volume of intraoperative bleeding was 332±268 mL. (II) Postoperative condition: of the 11 patients, 5 presented with complications, including pancreatic leak in 3 patients, bleeding in 1 patient, and thrombosis in 1 patient. Postoperative pathological examination showed that 10 of the 11 patients had adenocarcinoma, and 1 had a neuroendocrine tumor.

Conclusions: The peritoneum and the round ligament of the liver are feasible materials and provide clinical options for reconstruction of the PV and SMV.