title: External pancreatic duct stent reduces pancreatic fistula: a meta-analysis and systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postoperative pancreatic fistula formation (POPF) remains one of the most common and detrimental complications following pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ). The aim of this meta-analysis is to analyze the efficacy of external pancreatic duct stent placement in preventing POPF formation following PJ.
  
  
  METHODS
  The primary end-point was the incidence of POPF formation following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in the presence and absence of external stent placement. Secondary outcomes examined were the incidence of perioperative mortality, delayed gastric emptying, postoperative wound infection, operative time, blood loss, and length of hospital stay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four trials were included comprising 416 patients. External pancreatic duct stenting was found to reduce the incidence of both any grade POPF formation (OR 0.37, 95% CI = 0.23 to 0.58, p = 0.0001) and clinically significant (grade B or C) POPF formation (OR 0.50, 95% CI = 0.30 to 0.84, p = 0.0009) following PD. The use of an external stent was also found to significantly lessen length of hospital stay (SMD -0.39, 95% CI = -0.63 to -0.15, p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis has shown that external pancreatic duct stenting is indeed efficacious in the incidence of both any grade as well as clinically significant POPF formation following PD. Length of hospital stay was also found to be significantly less by external duct stenting.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Florida Hospital Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA. Electronic address: KPatel17@mail.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Krishen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Florida Hospital Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teta
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Florida Hospital Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA. Electronic address: prashantsukharamwala@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sukharamwala
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Northside Medical Center, Youngstown, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thoens
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Northside Medical Center, Youngstown, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szuchmacher
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Northside Medical Center, Youngstown, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: DeVito
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D061646:Operative Time; D010183:Pancreatic Ducts; D010185:Pancreatic Fistula / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016577:Pancreaticoduodenectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010193:Pancreaticojejunostomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011184:Postoperative Period; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology
keywords: Pancreatic carcinoma; Pancreatic duct stent; Pancreaticoduodenectomy; Postoperative pancreatic fistula