The modified Puestow procedure for complicated hereditary pancreatitis in children.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy (modified Puestow procedure) in the treatment of complicated hereditary pancreatitis (HP) in children.

METHODS: The authors reviewed their experience with the modified Puestow procedure for complicated HP in patients less than 18 years of age at a single tertiary care facility between 1973 and 1998. Main study outcomes included surgical morbidity and mortality, pre- and postoperative pancreatic function, number of hospitalizations, and percentile ideal body weight (IBW).

RESULTS: Twelve patients (6 boys and 6 girls) with a mean age of 9.3 years were identified. Presenting diagnoses were abdominal pain (n = 10), failure to thrive (n = 4), pancreatic pleural effusion (n = 2), and pancreatic ascites (n = 1). Blood loss was greater in patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy to localize the duct (n = 6) than in those who underwent direct transpancreatic duct localization (n = 6; 29.1+/-6.8 v. 8.3+/-3.7 mL/kg; P = .03). Other complications in patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy included splenic devascularization requiring splenectomy (n = 1) and postoperative intraabdominal bleeding with subsequent left subphrenic abscess (n = 1). There was no surgical mortality. Five patients had steatorrhea preoperatively that resolved in 4 patients postoperatively and was well controlled in the fifth. Mean number of hospitalizations for pancreatitis in the 5 years after surgery were markedly less than in the 5 years preceding surgery (0.4+/-0.2 v. 3.5+/-0.5; P = .01, n = 9). Percentile ideal body weight tended to increase within the first postoperative year (24.6+/-6.8 v. 45.0+/-8.3; P = .07, n = 9), and by the third year this trend was clearly significant (27.0+/-7.2 v. 60.9+/-9.5; P = .01, n = 8).

CONCLUSIONS: In children with complicated HP, the modified Puestow procedure improves the quality of life by improving pancreatic function, decreasing hospitalizations, and increasing the percentile ideal body weight. Direct pancreatic duct localization during the procedure had a lower morbidity rate than localization via distal pancreatectomy. It is our impression that surgery performed in the early stage of complicated disease may preserve pancreatic function.