Pancreaticoduodenectomy (Whipple's) procedure is indicated for complex  pancreatic  injuries,  with  immediate  reconstruction  for stable  patients  and  delayed  reconstruction  for  unstable  patients. This study aimed to review the authors' experience with trauma-related  Whipple's  procedure  at  the  East  Avenue  Medical  Center (EAMC).
METHODS: This study reviews cases where Whipple's procedure was performed from 2011 to 2015 at EAMC.  Data collected included age, gender, mechanism of injury, presentation, patient Injury Severity Score (ISS), time interval between injury to presentation, associated injury, surgical procedure, time and type of surgical reconstruction after resection complications and 30-day mortality.
RESULTS: During the 5 year period, 4 patients underwent Whipple's. All patients were male, mean age of 33.25 (range 29-48). Penetrating gunshot trauma was the predominant mechanism of injury (75% of cases) whereas peritonitis was the most common presentation (75% of cases). Mean ISS score is 29.5 (range 25-37).  Among them, 2 underwent  initial  resection  with  delayed  reconstruction  and  the other 2 underwent immediate reconstruction. Pancreaticojejunostomy was done for all pancreatic reconstruction. Cholecystojejunostomy (75%) and Choledochojejunostomy (25%) for biliary enteric conduit. Complications included pancreatic leak (50%), sepsis (25%) and pneumonia  (25%).  Overall,  30-day  mortality  rate  was  25%.Pancreatic leak was noted on all patients without stent placed on the pancreatic anastomosis.
CONCLUSION: Use of stents in pancreatic anastomosis in Whipple's for trauma may lessen the pancreatic leak rates, further studies are needed to prove this.  Cholecystojejunostomy can be an option for biliary enteric continuity, but further studies are needed to identify long tem patency rates.