Management of pancreatic injuries.

With the aim of aiding the accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients with pancreatic injuries, we reviewed the medical records of all those patients, treated for traumatic pancreatic lesions at our hospital in the period between 1971 and 1987. For all twenty-four male patients the mechanism of the injury, the diagnostic methods employed, associated injuries, location of the pancreatic injury, the presence of pancreatic duct lesion, treatment, the final outcome, and complications are described. In our view, the high mortality rate of patients with pancreatic trauma is due not to the pancreatic injury per se, but to the severe concomitant injuries resulting from a high-energy trauma. On the basis of the literature and our own experience we designed a flow chart for the management of pancreatic injuries. If the history and physical examination indicate that intra-abdominal injury might be present, radiographic and ultrasound investigation are the diagnostic methods of choice. Patients without pancreatic duct injury can be treated with debridement and external suction drainage. If pancreatic duct lesion is presented and is located to the right of the superior mesenteric vessels, treatment should consist of partial pancreatic resection and pancreatico-jejunostomy or a Whipple procedure. If the pancreatic duct lesion is located to the left of the superior mesenteric vessels, distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy with pancreatico-jejunostomy, should be performed.