The role of main pancreatic duct stent in the enucleation of benign/borderline pancreatic head tumors: a cohort study

Purpose This study aimed to reveal the role of preoperative main pancreatic duct (MPD) stent placement in reducing the intraoperative main pancreatic duct injury rate and the incidence of postoperative pancreatic leakage following pancreatic tumor enucleation. Methods A retrospective cohort analysis was performed for all patients with benign/borderline pancreatic head tumors who were treated with enucleation. The patients were divided into two groups (standard vs. stent) depending on whether they underwent main pancreatic duct stent placement prior to surgery. Results Thirty-three patients were finally included in the analytical cohort. Compared with the standard group, patients in the stent group had a shorter distance between tumors and main pancreatic duct ( p =0.01) and presented with larger tumors ( p <0.01). The rates of POPF (grade B&C) were 39.1% (9/23) and 20% (2/10) in the standard and stent groups, respectively ( p <0.01). Major postoperative complications occurred more frequently in the standard group than in the stent group (14 versus 2; p <0.01). No significant differences in mortality, in-hospital stay or medical cost were observed between the two groups (p >0.05). Conclusions MPD stent placement prior to surgery may facilitate pancreatic tumor enucleation, minimize MPD injury and decrease the occurrence of postoperative fistula.