Symptomatic ectopic pancreas relieved by surgical excision.

It is clear that hetereotopic pancreatic tissue not associated with pancreatitis, mucosal ulceration or bleeding can produce symptoms, and as such requires removal. Many benign intramural tumors are asymptomatic and are discovered only at autopsy. The majority of the tumors discovered clinically ae symptomatic; therefore, operative removal of the lesion for relief of symptoms rather than for diagnosis or prophylaxis is generally acceptable to the patient, physician and surgeon. It would seem that, in these patients, radical therapy is the nonoperative choice, while operation leads to rapid recovery and a symptom-free postconvalescent life style.