Clinical efficacy of surgical treatment for chronic pancreatitis with mass in the head of the pancreas

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of treatment for chronic pancreatitis and mass in the head of the pancreas.Methods The clinical data of 19 patients with chronic pancreatitis with mass in the head of the pancreas who were admitted to the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University from May 2008 to May 2013 were retrospectively analyzed,including 2 patients with gallstone.Methods of treatment were selected by in traoperative pathological results.All the patients were followed up by outpatient examination and telephone interview till January 2014.Results The operations of the 19 patients were successfully done,including 11 with pancreaticoduodenectomy,5 with exploratory laparotomy and 3 with the laparoscopic cholecystectomy and choledochojejunostomy.The operation time and intraoperative blood loss were (249± 140)minutes (50-390 minutes) and (320 ± 260)mL (50-900 mL).The postoperative mean time of recovery of gastrointestinal function and duration of postoperative hospital stay were 3.0 days (2.0-6.0 days) and 22.6 days (8.0-30.0 days) after the operation.The mean casein-IgG4 of 12 patients was higher (2.64 g/L) after operation.Five patients with operation-related complication were cured after symptomatic treatment,among 2 patients with leakage of the pancreatic fluid,2 with operative incision fat necrosis and liquefaction and 1 with bile leakage.No patients died perioperatively.Nineteen patients were followed up for 11.0 months to 36.0 months with the median time of 28.2 months.The pancreatic head mass of 8 patients with non-pancreaticoduodenectomy were reduced or disappeared by a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) rescan,who were treated by the oral prednisone.No complications were detected in the other 11 patients with pancreaticoduodenectomy.Conclusion Method of surgery or medicine treatment for atypical mass in the head of the pancreas is selected according to the pathology results by effective communication with patients and family members,exploratory laparotomy and interpretative aspiration biopsy. Key words: Autoimmune pancreatitis;  Mass in the head of the pancreas;  Surgical operation