Surgical Treatment of Acute Necrotizing Pancreatitis

Kim, Min Gyu; Jung, Young Soo; Kim, Song Cheol; Park, Kwan Tae; Han, Duck Jong

Abstract

PURPOSE: Acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) causes severe symptoms and shows a high mortality rate 10-40%. Proper operative strategies for the treatment of ANP are still disputed. The aim of this study was to review our experience of 29 cases of ANP, and to examine the possibility of using systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria as a prognostic factor.
METHODS
The medical records of 29 patients with ANP operated on at the Asan Medical Center between 1998 and 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were categorized by the presence or absence of SIRS before operation. 16 patients had SIRS preoperatively (SIRS group), and 13 did not (NSIRS group). The patients comprised of 27 men and 2 women, with a mean age of 44.7 years.
RESULTS
The surgical indications were sepsis syndrome, persistent pancreatitis with severe pain and late complications. The infection rates were 94% and 62% in the SIRS and NSIRS groups, respectively. Diet was started 12.6 and 7.8 days after surgery in the SIRS and NSIRS groups respectively. Postoperative hospitalization in the SIRS and NSIRS groups were 57.8 and 30.9 days, with 3 and 1 mortalities respectively. In the SIRS group, 13 patients (81%) had necrosectomy and drainage, and 3 (19%) a pancreatic resection. In the NSIRS group, 7 patients (54%) had necrosectomy and drainage, and 6 (46%) a patinets resection.
CONCLUSION
SIRS might be useful in predicting the prognosis of ANP after surgery. Necrosectomy and drainage procedures, but not in the early period of diseases, can be performed safely to avoid surgical complications and preserve the endocrine function.