Ischemic gastropathy after distal pancreatectomy with en bloc celiac axis resection versus distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic body/tail cancer.

BACKGROUND

Ischemic gastropathy (IG) is a major complication after distal pancreatectomy with en bloc celiac axis resection (DP-CAR) for locally advanced body/tail pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and its incidence is still unknown.

METHODS

To evaluate the occurrence of IG, 77 and 18 consecutive patients with body/tail PDAC were analyzed in a retrospective and a prospective study, respectively. We utilized perioperative gastroendoscopy, Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) score, and quantitative assessment for gastric arterial blood flow using the HyperEye Medical System (HEMS) with indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging in the prospective arm.

RESULTS

In the retrospective arm, no significant difference was noted in the occurrence rate of IG between the DP-CAR (8.7%) and DP groups (5.5%). In the prospective arm, the postoperative endoscopic scores were significantly higher in the DP-CAR group (45%) than in the DP group (11%) ( < .0007) despite no difference in the GIQLI score. The ICG-HEMS imaging system demonstrated more delayed arterial flow velocity in the IG (+) group ( < .028), but showed no significant difference in arterial flow volume compared to the IG (-) group.

CONCLUSION

This is the first demonstration assessing IG incidence after DP-CAR using multiple methods. Despite the high IG rate, gastric arterial flow volume was almost equally maintained in DP-CAR patients with or without IG compared with the DP group. We should note the fact that many of the IG patients do not present with typical symptoms, and proper treatment is required for those "silent" IG patients.