[Postoperative blood-sugar regulation in pancreatectomized patients using the artificial "beta cell"].

Seven patients who had undergone total duodenopancreatectomy were connected postoperatively to an artificial 'beta cell', which is a computer-regulated, glucose-controlled-insulin-infusion-system. Despite high-calorie parenteral nutrition, the apparatus enabled successful regulation of the diabetes that followed removal of the pancreas in our patients during the immediate postoperative period (7 days). The artificial beta cell is capable of exogenously regulating the carbohydrate metabolism of pancreatectomized diabetics, even in the extreme conditions immediately following operation.