[Carcinoma of the pancreas: palliative surgery (author's transl)].

Among 1146 patients with diseases of the pancreas observed over a 15-year period, there were 234 cases of malignant duodeno-pancreatic tumors. This report concerns the intraoperative diagnostic methods and the various palliative operations available. There was a ratio of 13 males to 10 females, and the average age was 63 years. In 24.3 percent of the patients attempts to establish the diagnosis intraoperatively by puncture or excision were unsuccessful. The cardinal symptom in 71 percent of these cases was icterus. Duodenopancreatectomy was possible only in 21 cases (= 8.9%). In 173 cases (= 75.2% of all patients) a palliative operation was performed.