Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to elucidate the association between postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) after distal pancreatectomy (DP) and clinicopathological factors and intraoperative and postoperative epidural or intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA).
Methods
We reviewed data of 116 patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy at Gunma University Hospital from October 2000 to October 2019. Clinical POPF was defined as the International Study Group of Pancreatic Fistula grade B or C.
Results
Intraoperative and postoperative analgesia included fentanyl-mediated IV-PCA (n = 37, 32%), fentanyl-mediated epidural analgesia (n = 39, 34%), and morphine-mediated epidural analgesia (n = 40, 34%). All patients had received analgesia. Clinical POPF occurred in 34 of the 116 (29%) DP cases. Male sex (P = 0.035) and the length of operation time (P = 0.0070) were significant risk factors of clinical POPF. Furthermore, a thick pancreas was more likely to cause clinical POPF than a thin one (P = 0.052). No statistically significant difference was found between other factors, including intraoperative and postoperative analgesia (P = 0.95), total median oral morphine equivalents (P = 0.23), and clinical POPF.
Conclusion
Intraoperative and postoperative epidural analgesia and IV-PCA are not associated with clinical POPF after DP. Our results suggest that morphine and fentanyl can be used as IV-PCA or epidural analgesia.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00595-020-02087-3/MediaObjects/595_2020_2087_Fig1_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Parikh PY, Lillemoe KD. Surgical management of pancreatic cancer—distal pancreatectomy. Semin Oncol. 2015;42:110–22.
Peng YP, Zhu XL, Yin LD, Zhu Y, Wei JS, Wu JL, et al. Risk factors of postoperative pancreatic fistula in patients after distal pancreatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2017;7:185.
Nakamura M, Wakabayashi G, Miyasaka Y, Tanaka M, Morikawa T, Unno M, et al. Multicenter comparative study of laparoscopic and open distal pancreatectomy using propensity score-matching. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci. 2015;22:731–6.
Yanagimoto H, Satoi S, Toyokawa H, Yamamoto T, Hirooka S, Yamao J, et al. Pancreaticogastrostomy following distal pancreatectomy prevents pancreatic fistula-related complications. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci. 2014;21:473–8.
Meniconi RL, Caronna R, Borreca D, Schiratti M, Chirletti P. Pancreato-jejunostomy versus hand-sewn closure of the pancreatic stump to prevent pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy: a retrospective analysis. BMC Surg. 2013;13:23.
Wagner M, Gloor B, Ambühl M, Worni M, Lutz JA, Angst E, et al. Roux-en-Y drainage of the pancreatic stump decreases pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatic resection. J Gastrointest Surg. 2007;11:303–8.
Klein F, Glanemann M, Faber W, Gül S, Neuhaus P, Bahra M. Pancreatoenteral anastomosis or direct closure of the pancreatic remnant after a distal pancreatectomy: a single-centre experience. HPB (Oxford). 2012;14:798–804.
Ricci C, Casadei R, Buscemi S, Taffurelli G, D'Ambra M, Pacilio CA, et al. Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy: what factors are related to the learning curve? Surg Today. 2015;45:50–6.
Nathan H, Cameron JL, Goodwin CR, Seth AK, Edil BH, Wolfgang CL, et al. Risk factors for pancreatic leak after distal pancreatectomy. Ann Surg. 2009;250:277–81.
Radnay PA, Duncalf D, Novakovic M, Lesser ML. Common bile duct pressure changes after fentanyl, morphine, meperidine, butorphanol, and naloxone. Anesth Analg. 1984;63:441–4.
Kowalsky SJ, Zenati MS, Dhir M, Schaefer EG, Dopsovic A, Lee KK, et al. Postoperative narcotic use is associated with development of clinically relevant pancreatic fistulas after distal pancreatectomy. Surgery. 2018;163:747–52.
Bassi C, Dervenis C, Butturini G, Fingerhut A, Yeo C, Izbicki J, et al. Postoperative pancreatic fistula: an international study group (ISGPF) definition. Surgery. 2005;138:8–13.
Bassi C, Marchegiani G, Dervenis C, Sarr M, Abu Hilal M, Adham M, et al. The 2016 update of the International Study Group (ISGPS) definition and grading of postoperative pancreatic fistula: 11 years after. Surgery. 2017;161:584–91.
Miyasaka Y, Mori Y, Nakata K, Ohtsuka T, Nakamura M. Attempts to prevent postoperative pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy. Surg Today. 2017;47:416–24.
Nielsen S, Degenhardt L, Hoban B, Gisev N. A synthesis of oral morphine equivalents (OME) for opioid utilisation studies. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016;25:733–7.
Shaheen PE, Walsh D, Lasheen W, Davis MP, Lagman RL. Opioid equianalgesic tables: are they all equally dangerous? J Pain Symptom Manage. 2009;38:409–17.
Anderson R, Saiers JH, Abram S, Schlicht C. Accuracy in equianalgesic dosing conversion dilemmas. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;21:397–406.
Pereira J, Lawlor P, Vigano A, Dorgan M, Bruera E. Equianalgesic dose ratios for opioids. A critical review and proposals for long-term dosing. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;22:672–87.
Gorlin AW, Rosenfeld DM, Maloney J, Wie CS, McGarvey J, Trentman TL. Survey of pain specialists regarding conversion of high-dose intravenous to neuraxial opioids. J Pain Res. 2016;9:693–700.
Bernards CM. Understanding the physiology and pharmacology of epidural and intrathecal opioids. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2002;16:489–505.
Glass PS, Estok P, Ginsberg B, Goldberg JS, Sladen RN. Use of patient-controlled analgesia to compare the efficacy of epidural to intravenous fentanyl administration. Anesth Analg. 1992;74:345–51.
Soga K, Ochiai T, Sonoyama T, Inoue K, Ikoma H, Kikuchi S, et al. Risk factors for postoperative pancreatic fistula in distal pancreatectomy. Hepatogastroenterology. 2011;58:1372–6.
de Leon-Casasola OA, Lema MJ. Postoperative epidural opioid analgesia: what are the choices? Anesth Analg. 1996;83:867–75.
Sun J, Chen SR, Pan HL. μ-Opioid receptors in primary sensory neurons are involved in supraspinal opioid analgesia. Brain Res. 2020;1729:146623.
Klinck JR, Lindop MJ. Epidural morphine in the elderly. A controlled trial after upper abdominal surgery. Anaesthesia. 1982;37:907–12.
Guay J. The benefits of adding epidural analgesia to general anesthesia: a metaanalysis. J Anesth. 2006;20:335–40.
Park HS, Kim JH, Kim YJ, Kim DY. Plasma concentrations of morphine during postoperative pain control. Korean J Pain. 2011;24:146–53.
Nordberg G, Hedner T, Mellstrand T, Borg L. Pharmacokinetics of epidural morphine in man. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1984;26:233–7.
Ummenhofer WC, Arends RH, Shen DD, Bernards CM. Comparative spinal distribution and clearance kinetics of intrathecally administered morphine, fentanyl, alfentanil, and sufentanil. Anesthesiology. 2000;92:739–53.
Loper KA, Ready LB, Downey M, Sandler AN, Nessly M, Rapp S, et al. Epidural and intravenous fentanyl infusions are clinically equivalent after knee surgery. Anesth Analg. 1990;70:72–5.
Gourlay GK, Kowalski SR, Plummer JL, Cousins MJ, Armstrong PJ. Fentanyl blood concentration-analgesic response relationship in the treatment of postoperative pain. Anesth Analg. 1988;67:329–37.
Ceuppens C, Dudi-Venkata NN, Lee YD, Beh YZ, Bedrikovetski S, Thomas ML, et al. Feasibility study of an online modifiable enhanced recovery after surgery protocol with specific focus on opioid avoidance. ANZ J Surg. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/ans.15976.
Acknowledgements
We thank Ms. Tomoko Ubukata, Ms. Harumi Kanai, and Ms. Misato Negishi for their excellent assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
About this article
Cite this article
Igarashi, T., Harimoto, N., Matsui, Y. et al. Association between intraoperative and postoperative epidural or intravenous patient-controlled analgesia and pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy. Surg Today 51, 276–284 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-020-02087-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-020-02087-3