A study of forty-nine consecutive Whipple resections for periampullary adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND

We designed a program to evaluate the morbidity, mortality, survival rates, and patient's quality of life after Whipple resection for pancreatic and other periampullary adneocarcinoma.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

After studying 11 fresh and unembalmed cadavers to learn the regional anatomy and to practice the surgical techniques for traditional Whipple procedure by the senior author (JS), 49 patients aged 56 to 84 years old were treated with Whipple's pancreatoduocenectomy.

RESULTS

There was no postoperative mortality or morbidity from anastomotic leakage. All 49 patients were discharged in an improved condition following surgery, including 5 patients with emergency resection. Eight patients are alive at the time of this writing, including 2 patients who had their pancreatic cancer resected 168 and 139 months ago.

CONCLUSIONS

In the opinion of these authors, treatment of all resectable cancers with Whipple's pancreatoduodenectomy offers not only a superior palliation but also the hope of cure.