Pancreaticoduodenectomy in a tertiary referral center in Saudi Arabia: A retrospective case series

Context: Perioperative outcome of pancreaticoduodenectomy is related to work load volume and to whether the procedure is carried out in a tertiary specialized hepato-pancreatico-biliary (HPB) unit. Objective: To evaluate the perioperative outcome associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy in a newly established HPB unit. Patients: Analysis of 32 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for benign and malignant indications. Design: Retrospective collection of data on preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative care of all patients undergoing PD. Results: Thirty-two patients (16 male and 16 female) with a mean age of 59.5 ± 12.7 years were analyzed. The overall morbidity rate was high at 53%. The most common complication was wound infection (n = 11; 34.4%). Pancreatic and biliary leaks were seen in 5 (15.6%) and 2 (6.2%) cases, respectively, while delayed gastric emptying was recorded in 7 (21.9%). The female sex was not associated with increased morbidity. Presence of co-morbid illness, pylorus-preserving PD, intra-operative blood loss > 1 L, and perioperative blood transfusion were not associated with significantly increased morbidity. The overall hospital mortality was 3.1% and the cumulative overall (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) at 1 year were 80% and 82.3%, respectively. The cumulative overall survival for pancreatic cancer vs ampullary tumor at 1 year were 52% vs 80%, respectively. Conclusion: PD is associated with a low risk of operative death when performed by specialized HPB surgeons even in a tertiary referral hospital. However, the postoperative morbidity rate remains high, mostly due to wound infection. Further improvement by reducing postoperative infection may help curtail the high postoperative morbidity