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The clinical impact of splenic artery ligation on the occurrence of digestive varices after pancreaticoduodenectomy with combined portal vein resection: a retrospective study in two institutes

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Abstract

Purpose

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) concomitant with portal vein resection (PVR) often develops into digestive varices with an occurrence rate of 30–50%, and the variceal bleeding is sometimes untreatable and results in fatality. Against this issue, splenic artery (SpA) ligation during PD-PVR is emerging as an easy and effective prophylactic surgical option. The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of SpA ligation in the development of digestive varices in patients undergoing PD-PVR.

Method

We retrospectively investigated 97 patients with PDAC who received PD-PVR in two hospitals. Vascular reconstruction of the splenic vein (SpV) was not performed in either hospital. We assessed the occurrence rate of digestive varices in these patients in association with the performance of SpA ligation.

Results

The occurrence rate of digestive varices was 23%. SpA ligation was the only significant decreasing factor for the development of digestive varices (odds ratio 0.3, p = 0.035). Although SpV resection was not a significant risk factor for the development of digestive varices in all patients, SpV resection was a significant risk factor for the development of digestive varices in patients without SpA ligation, as demonstrated in previous reports. SpA ligation did not increase surgical complications or impair pancreatic function.

Conclusion

PD-PVR surgery was accompanied by a 23% incidence of digestive varices, and SpA ligation significantly decreased the development of digestive varices without causing clinically significant complications.

Trial registration

No.18196 (Osaka International Cancer Institute) and no. 19006 (National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital)

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Data availability

The datasets in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Daisaku Yamada made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data; drafted the manuscript; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Hidenori Takahashi made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Naoki Hama made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Reishi Toshiyama made substantial contributions to conception and design, and analysis and interpretation of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Kei Asukai made substantial contributions to conception and design, and analysis and interpretation of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Shinichiro Hasegawa made substantial contributions to conception and design, and acquisition of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Hiroshi Wada made substantial contributions to conception and design, and acquisition of data and analysis and interpretation of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Masato Sakon made substantial contributions to conception and design, and acquisition of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published. Osamu Ishikawa made substantial contributions to conception and design, and analysis and interpretation of data; revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and gave final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hidenori Takahashi.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of each institution (no. 18196 at the Osaka International Cancer Institute and no. 19006 at the National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study.

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Not applicable

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Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary figure 1

Flow chart of the number and percentage of patients with digestive varices and variceal bleeding in comparison between the patients with SpA ligation and those without SpA ligation (PNG 9 kb).

High resolution image (TIF 702 kb).

Supplementary figure 2

The alteration of splenic vein (SpV) pressure during surgery. The alteration of SpV pressure of each 3 patients are depicted as solid and dotted lines. SpV pressure was measured during surgery. First, the native SpV pressure was measured (Preclamp). Second, the SpV pressure with clamping of the SpV was measured (SpV clamp); subsequently, the SpV pressure was measured after adding a SpA clamp (SpV clamp + SpA clamp). (PNG 3 kb).

High resolution image (TIF 437 kb).

Supplementary Table 1

(DOCX 17 kb).

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Yamada, D., Takahashi, H., Hama, N. et al. The clinical impact of splenic artery ligation on the occurrence of digestive varices after pancreaticoduodenectomy with combined portal vein resection: a retrospective study in two institutes. Langenbecks Arch Surg 406, 1469–1479 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-020-02010-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-020-02010-x

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