Wirsungectomy for pancreatic hypertension in chronic pancreatitis

Background. Pain in chronic pancreatitis (CP) can occur as a consequence of mechanical factors— pancreatic ductal hypertension, interstitial pressure, inflammatory and neuropathic pathological changes in the pancreas. The purpose was to evaluate a novel modification of the classic Partington-Rochelle procedure via comparing functional results of conventional surgery group and wirsungectomy group. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the case histories of patients with CP and an enlarged (≥4mm) main pancreatic duct was carried out for the period from 2003 to 2009, which underwent surgical treatment of CP. The SF-36 and EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaires, and visual analogue scale of pain were used for the assessment. The first group included five patients with wirsungectomy with lateral pancreaticojejunostomy (PEA + WE); the second group consisted of 20 patients after the lateral pancreaticojejunostomy (PEA) only. Cross-tabulation analyses were performed to compare PEA and PEA + WE groups as well as those groups in different time points using a two-sided Student’s t-test. The significance level was set to p<0.05. Results. The groups were compared in terms of VAS and the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire before and 2 years after surgery using Student’s t-test for unrelated values: statistically significant differences between the groups according to VAS as before (p=0.757) and after surgery (p=0.696) were not obtained. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the PEA and PEA + WE groups before and after surgery according to the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaires, except for some items (p<0.05) Within the groups according to VAS and EORTC QLQ-C30 (pain severity), in the PEA group (p=0.000001, p=0.000109) and the PEA + WE group (p=0.018, p=0.017) after surgery, there was a statistically significant decrease in pain. Conclusions. Longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy with wirsungectomy is justified in patients with long-term CP, severe fibrosis of the pancreas with multiple calcifications of the periphery pancreatic ducts to decompress pancreatic ducts, and parenchyma. In the long-term period after 2 years, the proposed method of longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy with wirsungectomy in patients with CP with dilation of main pancreatic duct according to the VAS scale and EORTC QLQ questionnaires C30 and SF-36 is accompanied by a significant reduction in pain.