Reoperation in management of postoperative complications of pancreaticoduodenectomy:Report of 12 Cases

Objective To summarize the experience and lessons of reoperation in management of postoperative complications of pancreaticoduodenectomy(PD).Methods The cause,surgical procedure and outcome of reoperation in 239 patients undergoing PD between Janunary 2001 and June 2009 were retrospectively analyzed.Results The total mobidity was 30.5% and the mortality was 4.4% in the 239 patients.Twelve(5.0%) patients underwent reoperation,including 6 cases of intra-abdominal hemorrhage,2 incision dehiscence,1 pancreatic fistula combined with intra-abdominal infection,1 pancreatic fistula combined with intra-abdominal hemorrhage,1 pancreatic cut surface hemorrhage and 1 intra-abdominal infection.The time of reoperation was 1h to 13d postoperatively.The mortality of reoperation was 25.0%.Conclusions Hemorrhage,pancreatic fistula and incision dehiscence are the major causes of reoperation after PD.Timely and decisive reoperation is an important method in management of postoperative complications of PD,but is accompanied with a rather high mortality.