Oguzhan Karatepe, Pinar Yazici, Muharrem Battal
Background Pancreatic fistula rate remains a matter of debate as the most important morbidity after pancreaticoduodenectomy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of V-Loc suture in laparoscopic pancreaticojejunostomy. Methods Between January 2012 and March 2017, 42 consecutive patients who underwent a totally laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy were prospectively included into the study. Postoperative pancreas fistula, anastomosis duration, hospital stay, postoperative morbidity, and mortality were recorded. International study group of pancreatic fistula definition system was used to classify postoperative pancreas fistula. Results There were 25 male and 17 female patients with a mean age of 56±7 years, ranging from 38 to 75 years. The mean operation time for the surgical procedure and Pancreaticojejunostomy was 339±43 min (range: 250-415 min) and 36±4.8 min (range: 30-46 min), respectively. Ten patients (23%) had 15 complications including postoperative pancreas fistula, postoperative hemorrhage, hepaticojejunostomy stricture, and wound infection. Nine patients with postoperative pancreas fistula (21%) were as follows; Grade A: 6, Grade B: 2, Grade C: 1. There was no 30-d postoperative mortality. Conclusion This report suggests a potential utility of V-Loc suture device during laparoscopic pancreaticojejunostmy that has showed promising outcome regarding operation time and fistula rate.
