Secure placement of a peripancreatic drain after a distal pancreatectomy.
BACKGROUND
A peripancreatic drain that is placed after a distal pancreatectomy sometimes migrates and becomes ineffective postoperatively. We devised a new drainage method with fixation of the tip of a peripancreatic drain using a loose loop of an absorbable suture.


METHODS
This retrospective study was performed on 84 consecutive patients who underwent a distal pancreatectomy followed by peripancreatic drainage with (n = 31) or without (n = 53) fixation.


RESULTS
The fixed drain remained in place postoperatively and was removed easily when the drainage became unnecessary. Pancreatic fistula developed in 4 patients with and 11 patients without drain fixation, the incidence between the patients. None with and 7 patients without fixation required additional drainage (interventional or surgical) for pancreatic fistula, the difference being significant. Time to resolution of pancreatic fistula tended to be shorter after drain fixation than after nonfixation.


CONCLUSIONS
Fixation of the tip of a peripancreatic drain is a simple but useful technique for effective drainage after distal pancreatectomy.
Sugiyama
Masanori
M
Department of Surgery, Kyorin University, School of Medicine, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan. sgym@kyorin-u.ac.jp
Suzuki
Yutaka
Y
Abe
Nobutsugu
N
Matsuoka
Hiroyoshi
H
Yanagida
Osamu
O
Masaki
Tadahiko
T
Mori
Toshiyuki
T
Atomi
Yuaka
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004322:Drainage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D010185:Pancreatic Fistula / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013536:Suture Techniques