Initial suction drainage decreases severe postoperative complications after pancreatic trauma: A cohort study.

Background: Few studies have addressed the question of which drain types are more beneficial for patients with pancreatic trauma (PT).

Aim: To investigate whether sustained low negative pressure irrigation (NPI) suction drainage is superior to closed passive gravity (PG) drainage in PT patients.

Methods: PT patients who underwent pancreatic surgery were enrolled consecutively at a referral trauma center from January 2009 to October 2021. The primary outcome was defined as the occurrence of severe complications (Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ Ⅲ). Multivariable logistic regression was used to model the primary outcome, and propensity score matching (PSM) was included in the regression-based sensitivity analysis.

Results: In this study, 146 patients underwent initial PG drainage, and 50 underwent initial NPI suction drainage. In the entire cohort, a multivariable logistic regression model showed that the adjusted risk for severe complications was decreased with NPI suction drainage [14/50 (28.0%) 66/146 (45.2%); odds ratio (OR), 0.437; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.203-0.940]. After 1:1 PSM, 44 matched pairs were identified. The proportion of each operative procedure performed for pancreatic injury-related and other intra-abdominal organ injury-related cases was comparable in the matched cohort. NPI suction drainage still showed a lower risk for severe complications [11/44 (25.0%) 21/44 (47.7%); OR, 0.365; 95%CI: 0.148-0.901]. A forest plot revealed that NPI suction drainage was associated with a lower risk of Clavien-Dindo severity in most subgroups.

Conclusion: This study, based on one of the largest PT populations in a single high-volume center, revealed that initial NPI suction drainage could be recommended as a safe and effective alternative for managing complex PT patients.