Objective: To report the morbidity and risk factors for overall complications and for pancreatic fistula (PF) after distal pancreatic resection (DP) during cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC).
Summary background data: The safety of DP in patients with peritoneal surface malignancies treated by CRS and HIPEC has been debated. The risk of PF and its impact on surgical outcomes are not well defined.
Methods: Between 2001 and 2012, 118 patients with peritoneal surface malignancy undergoing CRS/HIPEC required DP at 7 oncological surgical centers. The incidence, clinical impact, and risk factors of PF were analyzed.
Results: The indications for DP were tumoral invasion of the pancreatic gland with (n = 24; 20%) or without splenic extension (n = 76; 64%), invasion of the pancreatic capsule (n = 10; 9%), or iatrogenic lesions during CRS (n = 8; 7%). The rate of 90 days postoperative mortality was 7.6%, and the rate of severe morbidity (Clavien-Dindo ≥III) was 44%. Pancreatic fistula was observed in 39 cases (33%), with the majority grade B (48.7%) or C (28.2%). In multivariate analysis, the risk factors for PF were a peritoneal cancer index more than 20 (risk ratio: 3.01; P = 0.022) and an operative time more than 550 min (risk ratio: 2.74; P = 0.038). The occurrence of PF was not associated with a higher risk of 90-day mortality (5.1% vs 8.8%, not significant).
Conclusions: With regard to reported morbi-mortality rates, DP associated with CRS/HIPEC may be a reasonable procedure in highly selected patients when done in high-volume centers. Therefore, distal pancreatic involvement should not be considered as a definitive contraindication for CRS/HIPEC in patients with resectable peritoneal surface disease.