title: What should be the standard operation in chronic pancreatitis: Whipple or duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection?
abstract: Surgical options in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis have undergone both development and controversial discussion in the past decades. Operations such as the classical and pylorus-preserving Whipple resections are more and more being replaced by operations such as the duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection, which preserves extrapancreatic organs like the stomach, the duodenum and the extrapancreatic bile duct. The latter operation preserves a normal food passage and glucose metabolism after surgical intervention. In addition, the duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection provides long-term pain relief and reduction in up to 90% of chronic pancreatitis patients, as well as a general improvement in quality of life. This article will summarize and compare the surgical options in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis and will provide arguments why the duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection should replace the classical and the pylorus-preserving Whipple resections as the standard surgical procedure used to treat chronic pancreatitis-related complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Bern, Inselspital, Switzerland.
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Berberat
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Friess
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Martignoni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tempia
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Büchler
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D004322:Drainage; D004386:Duodenum / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D016577:Pancreaticoduodenectomy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000601:surgery*