Distal Pancreatectomy

Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a major source of morbidity and mortality after pancreatic resection, especially after distal pancreatectomy (PD). Today, POPF remains one of the main causes of hospital length of stay and healthcare costs. Numerous surgical techniques have been tested to reduce its incidence without success, so the current standard for the management of POPF, and the avoidance of associated complications, is intraoperative drain placement. However, surgically placed drains are not without risk. In recent years many studies, mostly retrospective, have attempted to determine whether omission of prophylactic drainage is associated with increased morbidity. These studies suggest that patients may benefit from not having a drain placed. This evidence challenges standard practice and the debate of whether or not to place a drain after distal pancreatectomy remains open. The investigators designed a prospective multicentre randomised non-inferiority study to determine whether prophylactic intraoperative drainage is associated with a lower morbidity rate after distal pancreatectomy.

Surgery is required for the treatment of many pancreatic conditions, either malignant or benign. Mortality of pancreatic surgery can be up to 3% even in expert centers. Morbidity is high, postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) being the main postoperative complication. In its current definition (drain output of any measurable fluid \>= postoperative day 3 with amylase content \>3 times the serum amylase activity and with clinical consequence), the incidence of postoperative PF is between 15 and 30 %. Most POPF resolve spontaneously but when refractory POPF occurs, it may lead to severe complications. POPF severity is graded as follows: grade B in case of change in medical management: infection without organ failure, specific medication (total parenteral nutrition, somatostatin analogs, antibiotics), persistent drainage \> 3 weeks, angiographic procedure for bleeding, prolonged hospital stay; grade C in case of reoperation or PF-related organ failure or death. No specific prophylactic treatment of POPF is currently recommended by clinical guidelines. In clinical research, many prophylactic strategies have been attempted with partial efficacy. Endoscopic pancreatic sphincterotomy with plastic stent placement is effective in pre-and postoperative management of pancreatic fistula but with the need of a highly competent interventional endoscopist. Intrapapillary botulinum toxin injection is believed to induce relaxation of the pancreatic sphincter, leading to a " pharmacological " pancreatic sphincterotomy without any morbidity. A recent phase I/II prospective study has shown promising results in this indication, with no clinically relevant pancreatic fistula when botulinum toxin was injected. Based on this observation we hypothesize that intrapapillary botulinum toxin injection during an endoscopic procedure before surgery could be effective for the prevention of post-surgical pancreatic fistula