Whipple procedure

The Whipple procedure is a technique of pancreaticoduodenectomy, or surgical removal of pancreatic cancer. It was named for Americansurgeon Dr. Allen Whipplewho devised the procedure in 1935and subsequently came up with multiple refinements to his technique. (Surgeons in training are often quizzed on the refinement he made that provided the most improvement in outcomes to that date: the use of non-absorbable silk over absorbable catgut suture.)

The first resection for a periampullarycancer was performed by the German surgeon Kausch in 1909.

The Whipple procedure today is very similar to Whipple's original procedure. It consists of removal of the distal half of the stomach (antrectomy), the gall bladder (cholecystectomy), the distal portion of the common bile duct (choledochectomy), the head of the pancreas, duodenum, proximal jejunum, and regional lymph nodes. Reconstruction consists of attaching the pancreas to the jejunum (pancreaticojejunostomy) and attaching the common bile duct to the jejunum (choledochojejunostomy) to allow digestive juices and bileto flow into the gastrointestinal tract and attaching the stomachto the jejunum (gastrojejunostomy) to allow food to pass through.

Originally performed in a two-step process, Whipple refined his technique in 1940into a one-step operation.

Using modern operating techniques, mortality from a Whipple procedure is around 5% nationwide (3% in high volume academic centers).

External links

• MayoClinic

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipple+procedure Wikipedia article Whipple procedure.