SURGERY OF THE PANCREAS

Publications in the English language literature concerning pancreatic surgery between April 1, 1990 and March 30, 1991 are reviewed in this paper. Concerning acute pancreatitis, the most significant advances involved the recognition and management of necrotizing pancreatitis. In patients with chronic pancreatitis, new resective procedures have been described. The natural history of pseudocysts has been studied using computed tomography. For patients with pancreatic carcinoma, little curative advantage is found with more extensive resection, although in some patients resection appears to provide improved palliation compared with bypass operation. Experimental and clinical studies indicated that in diabetes, pancreatic transplantation may relieve neuropathy.