Laparoscopic Versus Open Distal Pancreatectomy: Comparative Analysis of Clinical Outcomes at a Single Institution

Purpose:Undertake a comparison between laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) and open distal pancreatectomy (ODP) for the management of benign and malignant lesions.Methods:A case series study of 93 consecutive patients subjected to a distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic tumors between 2001 and 2015. In each patient, clinical and surgical characteristic, postoperative course, histopathologic examination, and survival were analyzed.Results:LDP was associated with significantly less operative blood loss (50mL vs. 300mL; P<0.01), higher spleen preservation rate (52.6% vs. 19.2%; P<0.01) and shorter hospital stay (5d vs. 8d; P<0.01). In patients with adenocarcinoma, survival at 1 and 5 years were 63.5% and 15.9% in the ODP group versus 66.7% and 33.3% in the LDP group (P=0.43).Conclusions:LDP is a safe and feasible procedure for DP resections. LDP offers advantages over ODP in terms of reduction of operative blood loss, higher spleen preservation rate, and shorter hospital stay.