Spleen and splenic vessel-preserving distal pancreatectomy

Objective To study the feasibility, safety and clinical effects of spleen and splenic vessel-preserving distal pancreatectomy. Methods A retrospective study was performed in 26 patients undergoing distal pancreatectomy for benign or low grade malignant disease with splenectomy (n = 13) or splenic preservation (n = 13 ) at the First Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong General Hospital from May 2002 to April 2009. Results All 26 pancreatectomy with splenectomy or splenic preservation were performed successfully. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups in average operative time[(172±47) min vs. (157±52) min, P ＞ 0.05 ], intraoperative estimated blood loss [( 183 ± 68 ) ml vs. ( 160 ± 51 ) ml, P ＞ 0.05 ], incidence of noninfectious and infection complication and postoperative hospital stay [(10.1±2.2) d vs. ( 12. 1 ± 4. 6 ) d, P ＞ 0.05 ]. The platelet counts examined one week after operation were significantly higher in the distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy group than that in spleen-preserving group [(37.3 ± 12.8)×109/L vs. (54.7 ± 13.2) × 109/L, P＜0.05 ]. Conclusions Spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy appears to be a feasible and safe procedure in selected cases of benign or low-grade pancreatic malignant disease necessitating a distal pancreatectomy. Key words: Pancreatectomy;  Spleen;  Pancreatic diseases