Impact of islet autotransplantation on 30-day post-operative outcomes in patients undergoing total pancreatectomy: A NSQIP retrospective cohort analysis of 584 patients.

Background: Total pancreatectomy (TP) offers a surgical option for refractory pancreatitis, yet confers substantial long-term morbidity associated with resultant diabetes. While total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) offers an intuitive solution, data evaluating its safety have been limited to single-center studies. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of islet autotransplantation to TP confers additional post-operative morbidity within the 30-day post-operative period.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected cases from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database. Cases of TP with or without islet autotransplantation from 2016 to 2021 were included. Baseline demographics, and a comprehensive list of 30-day postoperative outcomes were evaluated. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate the impact of each factor on 30-day complications.

Results: A total of 584 cases were included with 171 (29.2 %) patients undergoing TPIAT. TPIAT patients were younger (58.8 vs. 39.5; p < 0.0001), and had lower incidences of pre-existing diabetes (41.4 % vs. 19.9 %; p < 0.0001) and hypertension (48.2 % vs. 24.6 %; p < 0.0001). TPIAT cohort had longer length of stay (10.3 days vs.12.2 days; p = 0.0006). There was no difference in overall rates of serious complications between the two cohorts (50.1 % vs. 45.0 %; p = 0.263). After adjusting for demographic differences between cohorts using multivariable logistic regression models, TPIAT was not associated with serious complications (OR 0.71; p = 0.168) compared to TP alone.

Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that TPIAT does not appear to be associated with increased 30-day morbidity, and should be considered in patients to mitigate the long-term morbidity associated with diabetes mellitus post TP.