Spleen-preserving Distal Pancreatectomy or Distal Pancreatectomy With Splenectomy? Perioperative and Patient-reported Outcome Analysis

Goals: We designed this study to evaluate the efficacy of spleen salvage during distal pancreatectomy for patients with benign and borderline malignant tumors. Background: Despite the emphasis on its role, the spleen has commonly been removed in distal pancreatectomy. Study: From January 2005 to July 2009, 82 patients underwent distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy (DPS) and 78 patients underwent spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (SPDP). Med-ical records were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were no significant differences in demographics, final diagnoses, estimated blood loss, intraoperative transfusion, and operative time between the 2 groups. More perioperative complica-tions occurred in the DPS group than in the SPDP group (P=0.0344). Consequently, postoperative hospital stay was sig-nificantly shorter in the SPDP group than in the DPS grou