Intraoperative ultrasonography of the pancreas in children.

In children, lesions of the pancreas often are small, and precise localization is required for optimal surgical management. We have used newer-generation real-time ultrasonography of the pancreas intraoperatively in seven children. Five of these children had hypoglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulinomas; one had a persistent small pancreatic pseudocyst with a disrupted secondary duct, and one had familial pancreatitis with a remarkably enlarged duct and a stone. Two of the five with adenomas had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome I (MEN I syndrome); in them, ultrasonography localized several adenomas preoperatively and several additional adenomas intraoperatively. This allowed a 90% pancreatectomy with enucleation of small adenomas in the remaining head. One child had a nonpalpable insulinoma deep in the head of the pancreas; intraoperative ultrasonography localized the lesion and permitted successful enucleation. Another child with a small pseudocyst and a disrupted secondary pancreatic duct ultimately required surgical drainage; intraoperative ultrasonography of the inflammatory mass immediately localized the small pseudocyst and thus decreased the operative time. The child with familial pancreatitis appeared to require a surgical drainage procedure; however, intraoperative ultrasonography demonstrated that the stone had passed spontaneously just prior to operation and the duct size had returned to normal, eliminating the need for the drainage procedure at that time.