OBJECTIVETo study the surgical management of solid-pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP) and its characteristics of outcome.

METHODSFifty-eight patients with SPTP of the pancreas admitted from January 2001 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 7 male and 51 female patients, with an average age of 30 years (ranging 9 to 70 years). Most patients were symptomatic before admission; the most common symptom was abdominal pain. Of the 58 patients, 21 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, 30 patients underwent distal pancreatectomy, 6 patients underwent central pancreatectomy, 1 patient underwent simple tumor enucleation, and 1 patients underwent duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection.

RESULTSThe average length of stay in hospital was 23.8 days (ranging 12 to 64 days). Thirteen patients (22.4%) developed postoperative complications, including grade A postoperative pancreatic fistula of 8 cases, gastrointestinal tract bleeding of 1 case, pleural effusion of 2 cases, wound infection and fat liquefaction of 2 cases. Two patients underwent reoperation due to gastrointestinal tract bleeding or wound infection. There was no hospital death. Forty-four patients were followed-up for 7 to 136 months with an average of 41 months. All the 44 patients were alive, while 8 patients developed dyspepsia and 4 patients developed diabetes mellitus. There were no tumor recurrences or metastasis.

CONCLUSIONSSPTP is found primarily in young women. Excellent prognosis would be achieved with surgical resection.