Surgical treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts in the 2000's--laparoscopic approach.

A pseudocyst presents as a cystic cavity bound to the pancreas by inflammatory tissue. Typically the wall of a pancreatic pseudocyst lacks an epithelial lining, and the cyst contains pancreatic juice or amylase-rich fluid. Today the mostly used definitions make a difference between peripancreatic fluid collections, pseudocysts after acute and chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic abscess as in the Atlanta classification system for acute pancreatitis. Distinction between pseudocyst and acute fluid collection leads to a better understanding of the natural history of peripancreatic fluid collections and facilitates the progress of the treatment of these two separate entities even though they are a part of a continuous pathological process. The presence of a well-defined wall composed of granulation or fibrous tissue is what distinguishes a pseudocyst from an acute fluid collection. A pseudocyst is usually rich in pancreatic enzymes and is most often sterile. Formation of a pseudocyst requires usually 4 or more weeks (many clinicians state six) from the onset of acute pancreatitis. The differentiation in the Atlanta classification between acute and chronic pseudocyst is important, but it invite to confusion. It is important to note that in the classification the terms "acute" and "chronic" refers to the pancreatitis behind the pseudocyst and not to the mode of symptomatology of the pseudocyst itself. This means that an acute pseudocyst may have be known for months, whereas a chronic pseudocyst in the next patient has been documented only a week or two.