Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ) is the ''Achilles heel" of pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) which affects perioperative as well as oncological outcomes. However, there is a lack of information about the superiority of the type of anastomosis in terms of overall morbidity and postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) after PD. Here, we compare the outcomes of modified Blumgart PJ with the dunking technique of PJ. METHODOLOGY: A case-control study of a prospectively maintained database of 25 consecutive patients undergoing modified Blumgart PJ (study group) and 25 patients who underwent continuous dunking PJ (control group) between January 2018 to April 2021 was done. Between groups, comparisons were made for the duration of surgery, intraoperative blood loss, original fistula risk score, overall complications as graded by Clavien Dindo (CD), POPF, post pancreatectomy haemorrhage (PPH), delayed gastric emptying (DGE), and 30-day mortality at 95% confidence level. RESULTS: Among 50 patients, 30 (60%) were male. The most common indication for PD was ampullary carcinoma (44% in the study group vs. 60% in the control group). The duration of surgery was approximately 41 minutes longer in the study group compared to the control (p = 0.02), while the intraoperative blood loss was similar between the two groups (496.00 ± 226.35 ml vs 508.00 ± 180.67 ml, p = 0.84). While there was no significant difference in mean fistula risk score between the two groups, the POPF (8% vs 32%, p = 0.03), PPH (0% vs 20%, p =0.02), and overall major complications (CD≥ III) according to CD Grading (12% vs 40%, p = 0.02) were significantly lower in the study group. Similarly, the duration of hospital stay in the study group was 4.64 days shorter than the control group (p = 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the 30-day mortality between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Modified Blumgart pancreaticojejunostomy has better perioperative outcomes in terms of procedure-specific complications like POPF, PPH, overall major postoperative complications, and duration of hospital stay.