Treatment and outcome in pancreatic pseudocysts.

OBJECTIVE: Pancreatic pseudocyst is a common complication of both acute and chronic pancreatitis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and complications of different treatment regimens.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients > or =15 years of age admitted to Lund University Hospital from 1994 to 2003 with pancreatic pseudocysts were analysed retrospectively. Pseudocysts were defined according to the Atlanta classification.
RESULTS: Forty-four patients (29 M (66%), mean age 55+/-14 years) were included in the study, and all were subjected to treatment on 88 occasions. Mean size of pseudocysts at diagnosis was 9.6+/-6.8 cm (1.5-40 cm). Recurrence after treatment was 1.0+/-1.1 times (range 0-4). No difference was found in recurrence rate or pseudocyst size when comparing conservative versus interventional treatment, but patient weight was higher (p=0.013) and acute pancreatitis was more frequent (p=0.046) in conservatively treated patients. Surgical treatment tended to be associated with a lower recurrence rate as compared with percutaneous treatments. The rate of hospital admissions was a median 3 (0-16) and median length of stay (LOS) was 12 days (0-141 days). Six patients (14%) had complications and 3 died (7%). Pseudocysts > or =8 cm did not differ significantly from smaller pseudocysts regarding the choice of conservative treatment, LOS, recurrence and gastrointestinal obstruction, but there was a trend towards more complications in the group with larger pseudocysts (5 versus 1).
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with pancreatic pseudocysts require frequent hospital admissions and repeated treatments. Larger pseudocysts do not imply more recurrences. The lowest recurrence rate overall was seen after open surgery.