Mininvasive Distal Pancreatectomy: 10 Years' Experience of a Single Centre

Introduction Despite its proven feasibility and good results, the use of minimally invasive surgery in left-sided pancreatic lesions is a challenging procedure, and therefore, its utilization is still low. In this paper, we aim to describe the early outcomes of a group of patients underwent distal pancreatectomy in a 10 years period. Patients and methods From January 2005 until July 2015, 56 consecutive patients underwent mininvasive distal pancreatectomy at Department of General Oncologic and Mininvasive Surgery, Niguarda Ca’Granda Hospital in Milan, Italy. We performed an analysis of a database in which data of patients were recorded in order to evaluate preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative outcomes. Results The average operative time was 261 min and average blood loss was 275 mL. Conversion to open surgery was performed in 11 patients (11/56, 19.6%). Average postoperative hospital stay was 16 days, and major postoperative complications occurred in 22 patients (22/56, 39.3%). Overall rate of pancreatic fistula was 22/56 (39.3%), the rate of clinical pancreatic fistula (B/C grade) was 16/56 (28.6%). Mininvasive distal pancreatectomy with spleen preservation was performed in 17 patients (17/56, 30.3%). The analysis of these data showed no case of splenic infarction in the group with splenic preservation. Conclusion The results obtained confirm favorable outcomes of minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy and its association with a low postoperative morbidity rate.