Surgical Therapy of Pancreatic Pseudocysts

Pancreatic pseudocysts are a common complication associated with acute and chronic pancreatitis. Fifteen percent and 40% of patients diagnosed with either acute or chronic pancreatitis, respectively, develop pseudocysts (Grace and Williamson, Br J Surg, 80:573-581, 1993). The treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts has evolved since the early 1980s, and changes in management have lead to an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of pseudocysts as well as necessary treatment paradigms. It has become evident that not all pseudocysts are equal. Pseudocysts arising in the setting of acute pancreatitis have a different pathophysiologic basis than those arising from chronic pancreatitis. Moreover, even those pseudocysts that arise in acute pancreatitis exhibit unique features. Pseudocysts that develop from a mild episode of pancreatitis, complicated by pancreatic duct disruption, differ significantly from those developed as a consequence of severe acute necrotizing pancreatitis with severe distortion of the pancreatic parenchyma or pancreatic duct. This review will focus on the surgical therapy of pancreatic pseudocysts in the context of the underlying pathophysiology and alternative nonoperative therapies.