BACKGROUND: Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) has a considerable surgical risk for complications and late metabolic morbidity. Parenchyma-sparing resection of benign tumors has the potential to cure patients associated with reduced procedure-related short- and long-term complications.
METHODS: Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane libraries were searched for studies reporting surgery-related complications following PD and duodenum-preserving total (DPPHRt) or partial (DPPHRp) pancreatic head resection for benign tumors. A total of 38 cohort studies that included data from 1262 patients were analyzed. In total, 729 patients underwent DPPHR and 533 PD.
RESULTS: Concordance between preoperative diagnosis of benign tumors and final histopathology was 90.57% for DPPHR. Cystic and neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNETs) and periampullary tumors (PATs) were observed in 497, 89, and 31 patients, respectively. In total, 34 of 161 (21.1%) patients with intraepithelial papillar mucinous neoplasm exhibited severe dysplasia in the final histopathology. The meta-analysis, when comparing DPPHRt and PD, revealed in-hospital mortality of 1/362 (0.26%) and 8/547 (1.46%) patients, respectively [OR 0.48 (95% CI 0.15-1.58); p = 0.21], and frequency of reoperation of 3.26 % and 6.75%, respectively [OR 0.52 (95% CI 0.28-0.96); p = 0.04]. After a follow-up of 45.8 ± 26.6 months, 14/340 patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms/mucinous cystic neoplasms (IPMN/MCN, 4.11%) and 2/89 patients with PNET (2.24%) exhibited tumor recurrence. Local recurrence at the resection margin and reoccurrence of tumor growth in the remnant pancreas was comparable after DPPHR or PD [OR 0.94 (95% CI 0.178-5.34); p = 0.96].
CONCLUSIONS: DPPHR for benign, premalignant neoplasms provides a cure for patients with low risk of tumor recurrence and significantly fewer early surgery-related complications compared with PD. DPPHR has the potential to replace PD for benign, premalignant cystic and neuroendocrine neoplasms.

BACKGROUND: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a complex procedure for management periampullary neoplasms The aim of our work is to report the surgical outcomes after PD in young adult (YA) (<35 years) and to compare it to a adult patients who underwent PD.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of all patients who underwent PD in the period from January 1993 to December 2016. The primary outcome was the rate of total postoperative complications. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pathology, exocrine and endocrine function and survival rate.
RESULTS: 58/975 patients (5.9%) were YA and the majority of them were females. The incidence of post-operative complications in the YA was comparable to that in the adult group. Delayed gastric emptying developed significantly in adult group than YA group (0.008). The overall survival was significantly higher in the YA (P = 0.0001). The most common pathology in the YA was adenocarcinoma (41.4%) and solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) (29.3%). No significant difference as regards postoperative pancreatic exocrine and endocrine function in both groups.
CONCLUSIONS: PD in YA when performed in tertiary centers with good surgical experience is safe. The most common pathological diagnosis in the YA was adenocarcinoma followed by SPT.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a difficult and complex operation. The introduction of robotics has opened up new angles in pancreatic surgery. This study aims to assess the surgical outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy relative to its laparoscopic counterpart.
A retrospective study was designed to compare the surgical outcomes of 27 robot-assisted laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (RPD) and 25 laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). Perioperative data, including operating time, complication, morbidity and mortality, estimated blood loss, and postoperative length of stay, were analyzed.
The robotic group exhibited significantly shorter operative time (mean 387 vs. 442 min), shorter hospital stay (mean 17 vs. 24 days), and less blood loss (mean 219 vs. 334 ml) than those in the LPD group. No statistical difference was observed between the two groups in terms of complication rate, mortality rate, R0 resection rate, and number of harvested lymph node.
RPD is more efficient and secure process than LPD among properly selected patients. RPD is therefore a feasible alternative to the laparoscopic procedure. Further studies are needed to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the robotic approach for PD.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of age after pancreaticoduodenectomy. This is a retrospective study of 223 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for periampullary diseases. Three age groups of patients were compared: ≤70 years of age (group A); between 71 and 79 years of age (group B) and 80 years of age or older (group C). The primary endpoint was the postoperative mortality rate. Secondary endpoints were the overall postoperative morbidity, postoperative pancreatic fistula, postoperative pancreatic haemorrhage, bile leakage, delayed gastric emptying rates, the length of hospital stay, intensive care unit stay, the type of discharge from hospital, reoperation rate and overall survival. Uni-multivariate analyses and Kaplan-Meier curve were carried out. At univariate analysis, only the type of discharge from hospital showed that group B and C patients required a period of rehabilitation more frequently than group A (P = 0.047 and P < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis confirmed that age was not related to postoperative mortality (P = 0.258), morbidity (P = 0.912) and overall survival (P = 0.658), but it was related to type of discharge (P < 0.001). The present study seems to suggest that a pancreaticoduodenectomy is a feasible and safe procedure, even in elderly and very elderly patients even if the latter require a longer period of rehabilitation.