A prospective comparison of ampullectomy with pancreaticoduodenectomy for the treatment of periampullary cancer.

Local surgical treatment of periampullary neoplasms seems attractive in the context of the reduced morbidity and mortality than the more radical treatment options. The aim of our study was to compare local excision (LE) of the ampulla with standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for the treatment of periampullary cancer in terms of overall survival. Inclusion criteria were primary tumor < or = 2 cm with no evidence of lymph node involvement or distant metastasis on abdominal computed tomography (CT). Between January 2000 and January 2004, 23 patients were enrolled onto this study (9 in the LE group and 14 in the standard PD group). The two groups were homogeneous with respect to age and gender as well as the size and origin of the primary neoplasm. There was no correlation of the survival with age, gender, presence of lymph node metastasis, size of the primary tumor, type of surgery or histologic grade (x(2), p >0.05). However, the origin of the tumor had major impact on survival, with pancreatic tumors having the worst prognosis. Hospital stay was significantly reduced in the LE treated patients. Our results showed that LE for periampullary tumors is a viable option and is well suited for medically unfit patients or those who refuse more radical treatment options.