[Pancreatic pseudocysts after blunt abdominal trauma].

Pancreatic pseudocyst caused by trauma is rare. Only in 5 of 98 patients on whom we operated between 1977 and 1991 for pancreatic pseudocyst were we able to detect previous blunt abdominal trauma. In a 4-year-old girl just a slight abdominal trauma had given rise to a cyst, while in 2 other patients (aged 9 and 26 years) pancreatitis occurred after trauma that was treated medically. Two patients had to undergo laparotomy immediately after suffering serious abdominal blunt injury. Diagnosis was established sonographically, except in one case, in which a large cyst was determined to originate from the pancreas, but only intraoperatively. The time-span between trauma and treatment of the pseudocyst ranged from 3 months to 1 year. Thus, continuous percutaneous suction, which is basically considered a promising therapy for cysts in their early stages of development, was obviously not feasible in our patients. We therefore carried out cysto-jejunostomy with formation of a Roux-en-Y jejunum loop. At follow up 1-10 years after operation, all patients were asymptomatic and no cyst formation could be detected sonographically.