Progression from biochemical leak to pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy. Don't cry over spilt amylase.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a frequent complication after distal pancreatectomy (DP), but its upgrading from biochemical leak (BL) still represents an unexplored phenomenon. This study aims at identifying risk factors of the clinical evolution from BL to grade-B POPF after DP.

METHODS: Patients who underwent DP between 2015 and 2019 and who developed either BL (n = 89,56%) or BL upgraded to late B fistula (LB) after postoperative day 5 (n = 71,44%) were included. Preoperative, surgical, postoperative predictors were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: Patients with LB were significantly older (61 vs 56 years, P < 0.025) and received neoadjuvant chemotherapy more frequently (22.5% vs 8.5%,P = 0.017). Extended lymphadenectomy (52.8% vs 31.0%,P = 0.006), longer operative times (OT) (307 vs 250 min,P = 0.002), greater estimated blood loss (250 vs 150 ml, P = 0.021), and the appearance of purulent fluid in surgical drains (58.4% vs 21.1%; P < 0.001) were more frequently observed in LB group. Only purulent fluid in surgical drains and longer OT were confirmed as independent predictors of BL clinical progression.

CONCLUSIONS: Purulent fluid from surgical drains should be suspicious of BL upgrading. Frail patients undergoing longer interventions may represent key targets of mitigation strategies to minimize the magnitude of an incipient fistula and its increase in morbidity.