[Surgical treatment of acute necrotizing hemorrhagic pancreatitis. Analysis and prospective deductions on 58 cases].

Three degrees of severity could be recognized in 58 patients operated upon for severe acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis, based on results of intensive care, particularly anti-shock therapy, wide peritoneal lavage, and possible need for endoscopic relief of sphincter of Oddi obstruction due to a stone. The principal parameters evaluated were clinical and biological features and the course of the affection. As a result of these data, 44 pancreatic resections of variable extension and 14 excisions of necrotic tissues were performed. Results of these two types of operations, as well as the dominant causes of postoperative and secondary deaths, are analyzed in detail. The indications for surgery are discussed, together with the tactical methods to be applied as a function of the general condition and the detailed study of the pancreas and the state of the adjacent organs. Particular importance should be attached to the presence of respiratory insufficiency. The possible need for routine biliary external drainage is discussed, and the major role played by parenteral nutrition, which should be initiated as early as possible, is emphasized. These findings suggest that two fundamental principles should guide surgery of acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis: the need for surgery in selected cases, though over-aggressive operations should be avoided, and, more particularly, the concept, to be shared of the need for repeated operations, enabling avoidance of excessive procedures during initial surgery.