Surgical treatment in chronic pancreatitis timing and type of procedure.

Pain relief and improvement in the quality of life are of paramount importance for any intervention in chronic pancreatitis. In several trial good results have been published after different drainage procedures and resections. An optimal surgical intervention should manage mainly the intractable pain, resolve the complications of the adjacent organs and achieve the drainage of the main pancreatic duct. An optimal procedure should guarantee a low relapse rate, preserve a maximum of endocrine and exocrine function, and most importantly, restore quality of life. Thus an ideal operation should representing a one-stop-shopping. According to the trials conducted so far, Duodenum-preserving resection of the pancreatic head offers the best short-term outcome. It combines the highest safety of all surgical procedures with the highest efficacy. By varying the extent of the cephalic resection, it offers the possibility of customizing surgery according to the individual patient's morphology. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.