Management of Traumatic Pancreas Injury in Korea: Literature Review

Lee, Seung Hwan; Jang, Ji Young; Shim, Hongjin; Lee, Jae Gil

Abstract

PURPOSE
Traumatic pancreas injuries are rare conditions that result in high morbidity and mortality. Thus, early diagnosis and intervention are very important to manage pancreatic injuries. The purpose of this study is to review the management and outcomes of the pancreatic injuries in the Korean population.
METHODS
Original articles published from January 2001 to December 2012 and addressing the Korean population were selected by using indices such as 'pancreas injury', 'traumatic pancreas injury', and 'pancreatic trauma' to search KoreaMed and PubMed. Nine reports were selected to review the management options for surgery or endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography. We assessed the injury mechanisms, injury severities, associated injuries, types of operation, and outcomes.
RESULTS
Two hundred fifty of the 332 patients included in the 9 selected reports were men, and the mean age of all patients was 36.4 years. The main injury mechanism was traffic accidents(65.6%). Most patients had grade II or III injuries(68.9%). The most common extra-pancreatic injury site was the liver, followed by the chest and spleen. Operative management, including distal pancreatectomies(129), drainage procedures(64), pancreaticoduodenectomies( 23), and others(60), was used for 276 patients. The reported mortality rate was 10.2%, and the morbidity rate ranged from 38% to 76.9%. The average length of hospital stay was 39.5 days. Risk factors for mortality were amount of transfusion, injury severity, base deficit, age, and presence of shock.
CONCLUSION
In this study, we found neither significant data nor a consensus. If national guidelines are to be developed and established, a national data bank or registry, and nationwide data collection are required.