Ventral dissection of replaced right hepatic artery during pancreatoduodenectomy.

A novel technique for dissecting a replaced right hepatic artery during pancreatoduodenectomy in patients with middle or lower bile duct carcinoma is presented. After skeletonizing the left, proper, common hepatic arteries and the portal vein, the replaced right hepatic artery is dissected from the ventro-medial side of the hepatoduodenal ligament by severing the thin connective tissue behind the portal vein. Thus the hepatic arteries and the portal vein are completely isolated without the Kocher maneuver, leaving the cancer and the bile duct untouched en bloc with the surrounding lymph nodes and the pancreas head. The periaortic lymph nodes can also be resected en bloc with the main lesion.