The experience in diagnosis and treatment of bleeding complications in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) by transcatheter arterial embolization was summarized. The clinical data of 19 SAP patients complicated with intra-abdominal bleeding in our hospital from Jan. 2000 to Jan. 2003 were analyzed retrospectively and the therapeutic outcome of TAE was evaluated statistically. The results showed that the short-term successful rate of hemostasis by TAE was 89.5% (17/19), the incidence of re-bleeding after TAE was 36.8% (7/19) and the successful rate of hemostatis by second TAE was 71.4% (5/7). It was concluded that the intra-abdominal bleeding in SAP was mainly caused by the rupture of erosive/infected pseudoaneurysm. Mostly, the broken vessels were splenic artery and gastroduodenal artery; In terms of emergence hemostatis, TAE is the most effective method. Surgical hemostasis is necessary if hemostasis by TAE is failed or re-bleeding occurs after TAE.
Aneurysm, False/diagnosis ; Aneurysm, False/etiology ; Aneurysm, False/therapy ; *Embolization, Therapeutic/methods ; Hemoperitoneum/diagnosis ; Hemoperitoneum/etiology ; Hemoperitoneum/*therapy ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/diagnosis ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/etiology ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/therapy ; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/*complications ; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/therapy ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo explore the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic transgastric or transpapillary drainage in treating pancreatic pseudocysts.

METHODSThe clinical data of 15 patients with pancreatic pseudocyst who underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided transgastric or transpapillary drainage in the Chinese PLA General Hospital between June 2004 and February 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Also, we reviewed the relevant Chinese literature in the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database (from 1994 to 2012) and VIP China Science and Technology Journal Database (from 1989 to 2012) using the key words "pancreatic pseudocyst and drainage". Five literatures including 103 cases were enrolled.

RESULTSThe data of 118 cases undergoing endoscopic drainage, included 94 cases with transgastric approach and 24 with transpapillary approach, entered the final analysis. The success rate was 94.9%, and cysts completely disappeared in 83.9% of the patients. The overall incidence of complications (bleeding, infection, and stent clogging or migration) was 19.5%. One patient lost to follow-up and only one case of recurrence was noted.

CONCLUSIONEndoscopic transgastric or transpapillary drainage is safe and effective in treating the pancreatic pseudocysts and therefore can be a preferred therapeutic approach.

Adult ; Drainage ; methods ; Endosonography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Inflammatory pancreatic fluid collection, such as pseudocysts, pancreatic abscesses and infected walled-off pancreatic necrosis, arise as a complication of acute pancreatitis. Recently endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided drainage has emerged as the leading treatment modality for symptomatic pancreatic fluid collection. EUS-guided endoscopic drainage is less invasive than surgery and avoids local complications related to percutaneous drainage. In addition, this endoscopic treatment can drain non-bulging fluid collection and may reduce the risk of procedure related bleeding and perforation. Excellent treatment success rates exceeding 90% have been reported for pancreatic pseudocysts and abscesses. Intervention such as endoscopic drainage with necrosectomy may be indicated for infected pancreatic necrosis, and ideally be delayed as long as possible, 4 weeks or longer after the onset of disease, for better demarcation and liquefaction of the necrosis. Multimodal treatments by specialists with specific expertise in management of peripancreatic fluid collection is essential to achieve the best outcomes. A differentiation of gallstone-induced acute pancreatitis should be given top priority in its etiologic diagnosis because it is related to the decision of treatment policy. Early ERCP should be performed in patients with gallstone pancreatitis if a complication of cholangitis and a prolonged passage disorder of the biliary tract are suspected.
Abscess ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholangitis ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drainage ; Gallstones ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst ; Pancreatitis ; Specialization

We recently treated two cases of chronic pancreatitis with obstructive jaundice due to compression of the common bile duct by pancreatic pseudocyst. The two cases were males admitted with the complaint of icteric skin color. The first, a 46-year-old male, admitted with the complaint of icteric skin color. He was treated by operative cystojejunostomy after percutaneous drainage of the pseudocyst and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage. The other case was a 58 year-old male who admitted with the complaint of icteric skin color. He had an infected pseudocyst in the pancreas and was endoscopically treated. Both of them were discharged with favorable clinical course and normal laboratory findings after the treatment. The former patient remained well 11 months after treatment, but the latter patient died from necrotizing pancreatitis and septic shock 6 months after treatment. Most cases of obstructive jaundice associated with pseudocysts appear to be due to fibrotic stricture of the intrapancreatic portion of the common bile duct rather than due to compression of the bile duct by the pseudocyst. In a patient with secondary pancreatic infection or obstructive jaundice following pancreatic disease, differentiating between these two conditions is an important aspect of accurate diagnosis and therapy. Herein we report two unusual cases of chronic pancreatitis with pseudocyst complicated by obstructive jaundice.
Case Report ; Cholestasis/therapy ; Cholestasis/etiology* ; Chronic Disease ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/complications* ; Pancreatitis/complications*

A 54-year old man diagnosed with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma began treatment with sorafenib. After 3 weeks of treatment, he complained of abdominal pain and nausea. Abdominal sonography showed multiple hepatic lesions only. Serum amylase and lipase levels were 35 U/L and 191 U/L, respectively. The patient was diagnosed with sorafenib-induced acute pancreatitis. After 10 days of discontinuing sorafenib he still complained of nausea and loss of appetite. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed a large bulging lesion, which was suspected to cause extrinsic compression on the high body of the gastric anterior wall. Computed tomography scan revealed a cystic lesion, 8.3 cm in size, in the pancreatic tail, suggesting a pancreatic pseudocyst. After the withdrawal of sorafenib, systemic chemotherapy with Adriamycin and cisplatin was administered. Four months after the discontinuation of sorafenib, the size of the pancreatic pseudocyst decreased from 8.3 cm to 3 cm. The patient's symptoms were also relieved.
Abdominal Pain ; Amylases ; Appetite ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cisplatin ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Humans ; Lipase ; Nausea ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst ; Pancreatitis ; Tail

Previously reported series suggested that the morbidity rate of internal surgical drainage procedure alone was about 15% and the mortality rate was less than 5% in patients with pancreatic pseudocysts. Recently, ultrasonography or CT-guided percutaneous drainage and endoscopic drainage techniques have created a new dimension of invasive, non-surgical treatment options for these patients. In the absence of prospective, randomized, controlled studies comparing outcomes of different pseudocysts drainage techniques, the decision as to which method should be employed often lies with local expertise and enthusiasm. In our experience, radiologic percutaneous drainage with subsequent transpapillary endosopic drainage had a high success rate and was relatively less difficult which resulted in rapid clinical improvement. We report three cases of pancreatic pseudocysts treated with percutaneous drainage as a first-line treatment followed by endoscopic treatment.
Aged ; *Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; *Drainage/instrumentation ; Female ; Hemostasis, Surgical ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Ducts/radiography ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/*radiography/*therapy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

A subcapsular splenic hematoma is a very rare hemorrhagic complication of pancreatitis. We report here on a case of pseudocyst with a large subcapsular splenic hematoma in a 43-year-old man who presented with severe left flank pain for one week. Despite the initial conservative treatment consisting of pain control, bowel rest, intravenous fluids and antibiotics, the pain was not relieved. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed, and it showed a pseudocyst that was increasing in size with a large subcapsular splenic hematoma measuring 6x13 cm compared to the images at admission. Ultrasonography (US)-guided percutaneous drainage was performed without any complications, and splenectomy was avoided. After the discharge, the patient remained asymptomatic for eight months. We suggest that percutaneous drainage of a large subcapsular hematoma complicating pancreatitis might be a useful treatment option in selected patients.
Adult ; *Drainage ; Hematoma/complications/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Pancreatitis/complications ; Splenic Diseases/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

A subcapsular splenic hematoma is a very rare hemorrhagic complication of pancreatitis. We report here on a case of pseudocyst with a large subcapsular splenic hematoma in a 43-year-old man who presented with severe left flank pain for one week. Despite the initial conservative treatment consisting of pain control, bowel rest, intravenous fluids and antibiotics, the pain was not relieved. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed, and it showed a pseudocyst that was increasing in size with a large subcapsular splenic hematoma measuring 6x13 cm compared to the images at admission. Ultrasonography (US)-guided percutaneous drainage was performed without any complications, and splenectomy was avoided. After the discharge, the patient remained asymptomatic for eight months. We suggest that percutaneous drainage of a large subcapsular hematoma complicating pancreatitis might be a useful treatment option in selected patients.
Adult ; *Drainage ; Hematoma/complications/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Pancreatitis/complications ; Splenic Diseases/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Chronic pancreatitis is associated with varied morphological complications, including intraductal stones, main pancreatic ductal strictures, distal biliary strictures and pseudocysts. Endoscopic therapy provides a less invasive alternative to surgery. In addition, extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy improves the success rate of endoscopic clearance of intraductal stones. However, recent data from randomised trials have shown better long-term outcomes with surgical drainage for obstructive pancreatic ductal disease. In patients with distal biliary strictures, stent insertion leads to good immediate drainage, but after stent removal, recurrent narrowing is common. Endoscopic drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts has excellent outcome and should be accompanied by pancreatic ductal stenting when a ductal communication is evident. In those who remain symptomatic, endoscopic ultrasonography-guided coeliac plexus block may provide effective but short-term pain relief. In this review, we present the current evidence for the role of endotherapy in the management of patients with chronic pancreatitis.
Endoscopy, Digestive System ; methods ; Humans ; Lithotripsy ; Pain Management ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst ; complications ; therapy ; Pancreatitis, Chronic ; complications ; therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Stents

We report a case of a mediastinal pseudocyst with a pleural effusion that developed in a patient suffering from alcohol-related chronic pancreatitis. A 53-year-old man was admitted to another institution complaining of pleuritic chest pain and coughing. A chest X-ray revealed a pleural effusion with a collapse of the right middle and lower lobes. Pleural fluid taken by thoracentesis was exudative, and the patient was transferred to our institution. A CT scan showed a loculated cystic lesion in the mediastinum and pancreatic changes that were consistent with chronic pancreatitis. The endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) findings were compatible with chronic pancreatitis showing severe pancreatic ductal stricture at the head with an upstream dilation and distal bile duct stricture. After a one week of treatment with fasting and octreotide without improvement, both pancreatic and biliary stents were placed endoscopically. After stenting, the pleural effusion and pseudocyst rapidly resolved. The stents were changed 3 months later, at which time a repeated CT demonstrated a complete resolution of the pseudocyst. Since the initial stenting, he has been followed up for 7 months and is doing well with no recurrence of the symptoms, but he will need to undergo regular stent changes. Overall, endoscopic pancreatic stenting appears to be a good option for managing selected cases of mediastinal pancreatic pseudocysts.
*Endoscopy ; Human ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms/*complications/radiography/therapy ; Middle Aged ; *Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/*complications/radiography/therapy ; Pleural Effusion/*complications/therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic ; *Stents ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome