Pancreatic pseudocyst.

Pancreatic pseudocyst is a relatively rare complication of pancreatitis with a reported incidence of 1 to 5 per cent in patients with pancreatitis. The 5-year experience with pancreatic pseudocyst at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital has been reviewed in an effort to determine optimum diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Twenty-eight patients were treated for this problem during the period of June 1976 through June 1981 with one death. All patients had operative therapy, with internal drainage being the procedure of choice. The most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain. The most useful diagnostic study proved to be ultrasonography. Complications occurred in nine patients (32%). These included bleeding, obstructive jaundice, infection, rupture, and recurrence.