Palliative surgical bypass for unresectable periampullary carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Around 60% to 80% of patients with periampullary carcinoma are unresectable either due to distant metastasis or local vascular invasion. With the advancement of endoscopic interventional procedures, the role of surgical bypass has diminished. However, surgical bypass is still appropriate in patients with unresectable disease discovered at the time of surgery. This study was conducted to assess the results of palliative surgical bypass for patients with unresectable periampullary carcinoma at our hospital, a tertiary referral center of Northern India.

METHOD: The study group comprised 204 patients who had undergone surgical bypass for advanced periampullary carcinoma over the last 15 years.

RESULTS: Between January 1990 and December 2004, 204 patients (128 males, 76 females) consisting of 179 patients with carcinoma of head of the pancreas, 14 patients with ampullary carcinoma, 8 patients with lower end cholangiocarcinoma and 3 patients with duodenal carcinoma underwent surgical bypass. Their average age was 51 years (range 20-78 years). Both biliary and gastric bypasses were done in 158 (77.45%), biliary bypass alone in 37 (18.13%), and gastric bypass alone in 9 (4.32%). Biliary bypass was done by Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy, and gastric bypass by retrocolic gastrojejunostomy. The overall postoperative mortality and morbidity were 0.98% and 26.9%, respectively. The patients who died had undergone previously endoscopic intervention. Complications included wound infection in 12.25% of the patients, bile leak in 5.12%, delayed gastric emptying in 5.38%, ascitic leak from drains in 8.8%, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding in 1.96%. The incidences of wound infection and bile leak both were significantly higher in patients who had had preoperative biliary stenting. None of the patients who had undergone Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy+retrocolic gastrojejunostomy required any intervention later in their life.

CONCLUSIONS: Surgical bypass is a safe procedure with negligible mortality and minimal morbidity. It has not lost its relevance and is an appropriate treatment in patients deemed unresectable on peroperative assessment.