The role of main pancreatic duct stent in the local excision of pancreatic head benign tumors -- A Cohort Study 

Purpose: This study intends to explore the role of preoperative main pancreatic duct stent placement in reducing intra-operative main pancreatic duct damaging rate and the incidence of postoperative pancreatic leakage. Methods: : A retrospective cohort analysis was performed for all patients with pancreatic head benign tumors who were treated with local excision. The patients were divided into two groups (Standard VS Stent) depending on whether received main pancreatic duct stent placement prior to surgery or not. Results: : A total of 33 patients were finally included in the analytical pool. Compared with Standard group, patients in the Stent group had shorter distance between tumor and MPD ( 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 group respectively ( p <0.01). Major postoperative complications occurred more frequently in the Standard group than in the Stent group (14 versus 2 respectively; p 0.05). Conclusion: MPD stent placement prior to surgery can facilitate the surgery, minimize MPD injury and decreasing occurrence of postoperative fistula.