Oncologic Impact of Pancreatic Fistula

Clinically-relevant post-operative fistula is a major complication after DP, but it did not affect post-operative therapeutic path nor oncologic long-term outcomes. CR-POPF was not a predictive factor for disease recurrence and it was not associated with an increased incidence of peritoneal or local relapse.

POPF is the most common and feared complication after distal pancreatectomy (DP), increasing morbidity and mortality. Recent evidences suggest that POPF can also play a role in pancreatic cancer recurrence. Adult patients with a diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) of the body and tail of the pancreas, undergoing curative DP, over a ten-year period in twelve European Surgical Departments were retrospectively collected from a prospective implemented database. Cohort studied included 283 patients, 139 were men (49.1%), median age was 70 years-old (range 37-88). A total of 121 POPF were observed (42.8%), 42 of them (14.9%) were CR-POPF. Median follow-up period was 24 months (range 3-120). Although poorer in the POPF group, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) did not differ significantly when comparing patients with and without CR-POPF (p= 0.224 and p= 0.165, respectively). CR-POPF was not significantly associated with local or peritoneal recurrence (p=0.559 and p=0.302, respectively). Less patients after POPF (76.2% versus 83.8%) benefited from adjuvant chemotherapy but the difference was not significant (p=0.228). CR-POPF is a major complication after DP, but it did affect neither the post-operative therapeutic path nor oncologic outcomes. CR-POPF was not a predictive factor for disease recurrence and it was not associated with an increased incidence of peritoneal or local relapse.