Open Pancreatic Duct Stenting in Pancreatic Trauma: A Bridge in the Path of Pancreatic Preservation

Pancreatic trauma is often associated with high mortality and morbidity. Current management protocol advises conservative management when the duct is not involved but if there are higher-grade injuries with duct disruption it requires major pancreatic surgeries. These surgeries are technically challenging and carry a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. In this article, we propose open pancreatic duct stenting as the open counterpart of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in open surgeries for pancreatic preservation. A 20-year-old male presented to emergency 3 days after blunt trauma abdomen with the chief complaint of upper abdominal pain and vomiting. Lab parameters were normal except S. amylase was − 1563 IU/L. Contrast-enhanced computerised tomography (CECT) abdomen shows almost complete transection at the level of the neck of the pancreas with complete disruption of the main pancreatic duct (MPD). Exploratory laparotomy with stenting of the pancreatic duct with pancreatic tissue repair with feeding jejunostomy was done instead of major pancreatic resection and anastomosis. The recovery period was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the 8th postoperative day. In the literature, there are very few reports available where intraoperative pancreatic duct stenting was done without ductal repair in the trauma setting. Until now, ten cases have been reported in which a pancreatic duct could be approximated and was repaired over a stent. In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in trauma management that advocates organ preservation. Existing pancreatic trauma guidelines still recommend morbid surgeries such as distal pancreatectomy or pancreaticoduodenectomy for severe-grade pancreatic trauma. However, there is an obvious need to consider organ preservation because pancreatic resection procedures have inherent complications as well as high morbidity and mortality.