Analysis of Later Stage Morbidity and Mortality after Pancreatic Surgery Because of Abdominal Trauma

Background: Pancreatic trauma surgery is a complicated surgical procedure for severe pancreatic injuries, accompanied by a high incidence of complications and mortality. This study was designed to explore the long-term prognosis of pancreatic surgery because of abdominal trauma. Patients and Methods: The clinical data of 103 patients who were admitted to Jinling Hospital between August 2012 and August 2019 who had pancreatic trauma surgery were analyzed retrospectively. Results: All admissions involved pancreatic trauma surgery performed at an outside hospital network, which later transferred patients to our institution because of post-operative later-stage complications. Eight patients received American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grade 1 or 2 pancreatic injuries and 95 received AAST grade 3, 4, or 5 pancreatic injuries. The primary surgical management of pancreatic injuries included drainage of the pancreatic injury (n = 28), repair of the pancreas (n = 35), partial pancreatectomy (n = 15), pancreaticojejunostomy (n = 6), and pancreaticoduodenectomy (n = 19). The most common mechanism of trauma was motor vehicle collision (n = 72), crush injury (n = 26), and stab wound (n = 5). Of 103 patients suffered varying degrees of gastrointestinal fistulae and intra-abdominal infections, there were 66 cases of pancreatic fistulae (64.1%), 49 cases of enteric fistulae (47.6%), 26 cases of colonic fistulae (25.2%), 14 cases of gastric or gastrointestinal anastomotic fistulae (13.6%), and 13 cases of biliary fistulae (12.6%). Ninety-five patients survived and eight patients died after therapy; the mean length of intensive care unit stay was 33 days. The number of patients who underwent emergency pancreaticoduodenectomy (EPD), the incidence of blood transfusion, the number of fistulae per patient, and the duration of mechanical ventilation and bacteremia in the mortality group were substantially higher than in the survival group (p < 0.05 each). The patients who underwent EPD had more grade 5 pancreatic injuries, more blood transfusions, higher peak total bilirubin, greater numbers of fistulae and open abdomen, and longer duration of mechanical ventilation and mortality than other patients (p < 0.05 each). Conclusions: The grade of pancreatic injury was associated with mortality and post-operative complications. The post-operative mortality and occurrence of complications of EPD because of abdominal trauma were significant; use of damage control surgery could potentially reduce the morbidity and mortality related to this procedure.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the long-term prognosis of pancreatic surgery due to abdominal trauma, finding that the grade of pancreatic injury was associated with mortality and post-operative complications. Patients who underwent emergency pancreaticoduodenectomy (EPD) had higher mortality rates and complications, indicating the potential benefits of using damage control surgery to reduce morbidity and mortality in these cases.