Treatment of severe acute pancreatitis through retroperitoneal laparoscopic drainage

A treatment method based on drainage via retroperitoneal laparoscopy was adopted for 15 severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) patients to investigate the feasibility of the method. Ten patients received only drainage via retroperitoneal laparoscopy, four patients received drainage via both retroperitoneal and preperitoneal laparoscopy, and one patient received drainage via conversion to laparotomy. Thirteen patients exhibited a good drainage effect and were successfully cured without any other surgical treatment. Two patients had encapsulated effusions or pancreatic pseudocysts after surgery, but were successfully cured after lavage and B ultrasound-guided percutaneous catheter drainage. SAP treatment via retroperitoneal laparoscopic drainage is an effective surgical method, resulting in minor injury. © 2011 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.