Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy: are the best times coming?

• Main Authors: Mengqi Liu, Shunrong Ji, Wenyan Xu, Wensheng Liu, Yi Qin, Qiangsheng Hu, Qiqing Sun, Zheng Zhang, Xianjun Yu, Xiaowu Xu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-05-01
• Series: World Journal of Surgical Oncology
• Subjects: Laparoscopic; Pancreaticoduodenectomy; Open surgery; Robotic; Overall survival
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12957-019-1624-6

Abstract Background The introduction of laparoscopic technology has greatly promoted the development of surgery, and the trend of minimally invasive surgery is becoming more and more obvious. However, there is no consensus as to whether laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) should be performed routinely. Main body We summarized the development of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) in recent years by comparing with open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) and robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy (RPD) and evaluated its feasibility, perioperative, and long-term outcomes including operation time, length of hospital stay, estimated blood loss, and overall survival. Then, several relevant issues and challenges were discussed in depth. Conclusion The perioperative and long-term outcomes of LPD are no worse and even better in length of hospital stay and estimated blood loss than OPD and RPD except for a few reports. Though with strict control of indications, standardized training, and learning, ensuring safety and reducing cost are still and will always the keys to the healthy development of LPD; the best times for it are coming.