Details and Outcomes of Distal Pancreatectomy with Celiac Axis Resection Preserving the Left Gastric Arterial Flow

Background To describe the technical details and efficacy of distal pancreatectomy with celiac axis resection (DP-CAR) and left gastric artery (LGA) flow preservation for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Method This single-center, retrospective analysis investigated short- and long-term outcomes of DP-CAR performed on 55 patients with PDAC from 2011 to 2019. Our method included LGA reconstruction after total resection of the CA (rDP-CAR group; 24 patients) or LGA preservation if the tumor invasion was away from its root (pDP-CAR group; 31 patients), a CA-first approach to reduce blood loss during dissection, and conservative drain management with or without jejunal serosal patching at the pancreatic stump. Results Among the study patients, 23 had locally advanced PDAC and 22 had borderline resectable PDAC. Median operation duration was 443 min (248–810), estimated blood loss was 600 mL (150–2280), and incidence of transfusion was 2%. Ischemic complications occurred exclusively in the rDP-CAR group, including two patients with ischemic gastropathy (8%) and three patients with findings of liver ischemia on computed tomography (13%). One patient underwent relaparotomy for stomach perforations, and 19 patients (35%) had pancreatic fistula, including 8 patients who underwent conservative drain placement for more than 3 weeks without specific symptoms. There were no Clavien–Dindo grade 4 or higher postoperative complications. Preoperative therapy showed improved 3-year overall survival rates than without (54% vs. 37%, p = 0.027). Conclusions Using the standardized technique, DP-CAR was safely performed with no mortality and acceptable long-term survival.