Background: Pancreatic pseudocyst is a collection of pancreatic fluid that is bounded by fibrous or granulation tissue in the lesser sac that is most often develops as a result of acute pancreatitis. This study attempted to perform the posterior laparoscopic cystogastrostomy approach for treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts and to evaluate its efficiency, feasibility and safety as a new emerging minimal invasive procedure.
Patients and methods: This was a prospective study that included 9 patients (4 males and 5 females) with an age range between 18 and 50 years and having symptomatic or mature (>5 cm) pseudo-pancreatic cysts. All patients underwent laparoscopic cystogastrostomy through posterior approach in General Surgery department at Aim Shams University hospitals.
Results: The procedure was completed through the posterior approach in 8 cases (88.9%) and was switched to anterior approach in one case, with mean operative time (138±27.3) min, mean hospital stay (6±1.1) days, no mortality or major complications occurred. All the cysts were completely collapsed as detected by ultrasound within the first 2 weeks after the operation.
Conclusion: Although this was a pilot study, our results suggest that laparoscopic cystogastrostomy via the posterior approach is a safe and effective minimal invasive technique for pseudo pancreatic cysts drainage. However, the location of the cyst and the degree of adhesion between the stomach and the cyst determine the feasibility of such approach, still, more comparative studies with larger number of patients and longer duration of follow up period are recommended for better assessment and evaluation of this technique.