Clinical significance of postoperative complications after pancreatic surgery in time-to-complication and length of postoperative hospital stay: a retrospective study

We retrospectively analyzed pancreatectomy patients and examined the occurrence rate and timing of postoperative complications (time-to-complication; TTC) and their impact on the length of postoperative hospital stay (POHS) to clarify their characteristics, provide appropriate postoperative management, and improve short-term outcomes in the future.

A total of 227 patients, composed of 118 pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and 109 distal pancreatectomy (DP) cases, were analyzed. We examined the frequency of occurrence, TTC, and POHS of each type of postoperative complication, and these were analyzed for each surgical procedure. Complications of the Clavien-Dindo (CD) classification Grade II or higher were considered clinically significant.

Clinically significant complications were observed in 70.3% and 36.7% of the patients with PD and DP, respectively. Complications occurred at a median of 10 days in patients with PD and 6 days in patients with DP. Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) occurred approximately 7 days postoperatively in both groups. For the POHS, in cases without significant postoperative complications (CD ≤ I), it was approximately 22 days for PD and 11 days for DP. In contrast, when any complications occurred, POHS increased to 30 days for PD and 19 days for DP (each with additional 8 days), respectively. In particular, POPF prolonged the hospital stay by approximately 11 days for both procedures.

Each postoperative complication after pancreatectomy has its own characteristics in terms of the frequency of occurrence, TTC, and impact on POHS. A correct understanding of these factors will enable timely therapeutic intervention and improve short-term outcomes after pancreatectomy.