Feasibility of laparoscopic radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy (RAMPS) as a standard treatment for distal resectable pancreatic cancer

IntroductionLaparoscopic (Lap-) radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy (RAMPS) is an attractive radical procedure that aims to achieve negative posterior retroperitoneal margin in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) resections. However, only few institutions are adapting Lap-RAMPS due to the technical difficulties and the lack of supporting evidence for the clinical applications.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was performed on consecutive patients who underwent RAMPS for distal resectable PDACs. We analyzed the short- and long-term outcomes including local control and the induction of adjuvant chemotherapy compared between Lap- and Open-RAMPS.ResultsOf the 118 RAMPS patients, 43 patients underwent Lap-RAMPS and 75 patients underwent Open-RAMPS. The blood loss was lower (125 vs. 390 mL, p < 0.001), and postoperative hospital stay was shorter (17 vs. 21 days, p = 0.018) in the Lap-RAMPS group. There was no difference in the postoperative complications and no mortality in both groups. R0 resection rate was 100.0% in the Lap-RAMPS and 90.7% in the Open-RAMPS (p = 0.039). Among the patients eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy, the Lap-RAMPS group showed a favorable induction rate (100.0 vs. 89.6%, p = 0.037). Both groups showed a favorable 3-year local recurrence rate (8.7 vs. 10.0%, p = 0.976) and 3-year overall survival (69.8 vs. 71.1%, p = 0.996).ConclusionsThe safety and efficacy of Lap-RAMPS were comparable to those of Open-RAMPS in terms of achieving local control and adjuvant chemotherapy induction. A higher early induction of adjuvant chemotherapy is an advantage of minimally invasive surgery.