Robotic central pancreatectomy with stented pancreaticogastrostomy: operative details

Background: Central pancreatectomy (CP) is increasingly being used to treat selected lesions of the central pancreatic segment. A step-by-step technique for robotic CP is described and a literature review provided for this minimally invasive approach.

Methods: A 55-year-old woman was referred to the authors' center for the treatment of a single 4 cm lesion located at the proximal part of the pancreatic body. The da Vinci Robotic surgical system® with a five trocar technique was used. The pancreatic neck was transected using an endoscopic stapler. The pancreatic body was progressively dissected from the splenic vessels right to left and sectioned with an appropriate oncologic margin. A pancreaticogastrostomy protected by a transanastomotic external stent was constructed to the distal pancreatic stump.

Results: Surgery lasted 450 min (8 min docking time) with minimal blood loss. Pathology showed a 28 mm well-differentiated neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor with tumor-free resection margins. The patient was discharged home on postoperative day 15 in good condition.

Conclusions: Robotic surgery can be safely used for complex pancreatic resection requiring pancreaticoenteric reconstruction. The experience reported so far is still limited but the results are encouraging; robotics shows the potential to bridge the gap between minimally invasive surgery and advanced pancreatic surgery.