title: Surgery for nonalcoholic chronic pancreatitis.
abstract: There are few reports on operations in patients with nonalcoholic pancreatitis. Between 1985 and 1995 we operated on 58 such patients, 38 of whom were male and 20 female with a mean age of 35 years (range 5-72 years). The indications for operation were pain (n = 49), biliary obstruction (n = 12), duodenal obstruction (n = 10), portal hypertension (n = 11), cysts (n = 14), and pancreatic ascites (n = 3). Thirty-four patients with a dilated pancreatic duct underwent pancreaticojejunostomy; cysts were drained internally in eight, and biliary and duodenal obstruction was bypassed. Ten patients also underwent surgery for portal hypertension. Four (7%) patients died during the postoperative period. Of the remaining 54 patients, 48 (89%) were followed up for a median period of 63 months (range 6 months to 10 years). Six died: four of pancreatic cancer, one of cerebrovascular accident, and one of malnutrition. Of the 34 surviving patients operated for pain, 30 (88%) felt better, of whom 24 (71%) had complete relief of pain; 14 (41%) recorded a weight gain. Pancreatic decompression results in immediate and lasting pain relief in most patients with nonalcoholic chronic pancreatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Pande
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sahni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nundy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome