Effectiveness and limitation of surgical treatment for chronic pancreatitis.

The effectiveness of various forms of therapy for chronic pancreatitis during the past fourteen years at our clinic was presented. Forty-nine patients underwent surgical treatment and twenty-six were treated medically, a total of seventy-five. The surgical procedures were classified as direct and indirect. Therapeutic results were better in the surgical group. Relief of abdominal pain was achieved in 92% of the direct and 94% of the indirect operative groups. Objective results, such as pancreatic function tests, were inconsistent. Direct operations were further evaluated by comparing the results of longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy to other surgical procedures.