Comparison of safety, efficacy, and long-term follow-up between "one-step" and "step-up" approaches for infected pancreatic necrosis

BACKGROUND Although the "Step-up" strategy is the primary surgical treatment for infected pancreatic necrosis, it is not suitable for all such patients. The "One-step" strategy represents a novel treatment, but the safety, efficacy, and long-term follow-up have not yet been compared between these two approaches. AIM To compare the safety, efficacy, and long-term follow-up of two surgical approaches to provide a reference for infected pancreatic necrosis treatment. METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of infectious pancreatic necrosis patients who underwent "One-step" or "Step-up" necrosectomy at Xuan Wu Hospital, Capital Medical University, from May 2014 to December 2020. The primary outcome was the composite endpoint of severe complications or death. Patients were followed up every 6 mo after discharge until death or June 30, 2021. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0 and GraphPad Prism 8.0, and statistical significance was set a t P < 0.05. RESULTS One-hundred-and-fifty-eight patients were enrolled, of whom 61 patients underwent "One-step" necrosectomy and 97 patients underwent "Step-up" necrosectomy. During the long-term follow-up period, 40 patients in the "One-step" group and 63 patients in the "Step-up" group survived. The time from disease onset to hospital admission (53.69 +/- 38.14 vs 32.20 +/- 20.75, P < 0.001) and to initial surgical treatment was longer in the "Step-up" than in the "One-step" group (54.38 +/- 10.46 vs 76.58 +/- 17.03, P < 0.001). Patients who underwent "Step-up" necrosectomy had a longer hospitalization duration (65.41 +/- 28.14 vs 52.76 +/- 24.71, P = 0.02), and more interventions (4.26 +/- 1.71 vs 3.18 +/- 1.39, P < 0.001). Postoperative inflammatory indicator levels were significantly lower than preoperative levels in each group. Although the incisional hernia incidence was higher in the "One-step" group, no significant difference was found in the composite outcomes of severe complications or death, new-onset organ failure, postoperative complications, inflammatory indicators, long-term complications, quality of life, and medical costs between the groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION Compared with the "Step-up" approach, the "One-step" approach is a safe and effective treatment method with better long-term quality of life and prognosis. It also provides an alternative surgical treatment strategy for patients with infected pancreatic necrosis.