Background: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) often leads to recurrent pain as well as exocrine and/or endocrine pancreatic insufficiency. This study aimed to investigate the effect of pancreatic head resections on glucose metabolism in patients with CP. Methods: Patients who underwent pylorus‐preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PPPD), Whipple procedure (cPD), or duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection (DPPHR) for CP between January 2011 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed with regard to markers of pancreatic endocrine function including steady‐state beta cell function (%B), insulin resistance (IR), and insulin sensitivity (%S) according to the updated Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA2). Results: Out of 141 pancreatic resections for CP, 43 cases including 31 PPPD, 2 cPD and 10 DPPHR, met the inclusion criteria. Preoperatively, six patients (14%) were normoglycemic (NG), 10 patients (23.2%) had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 27 patients (62.8%) had diabetes mellitus (DM). In each subgroup, no significant changes were observed for HOMA2‐%B (NG: p = 0.57; IGT: p = 0.38; DM: p = 0.1), HOMA2‐IR (NG: p = 0.41; IGT: p = 0.61; DM: p = 0.18) or HOMA2‐%S (NG: p = 0.44; IGT: p = 0.52; DM: p = 0.51) 3 and 12 months after surgery, respectively. Conclusion: Pancreatic head resections for CP, including DPPHR and pancreatoduodenectomies, do not significantly affect glucose metabolism within a follow‐up period of 12 months.
Institute(s)Institute for Pancreatic Beta Cell Research (IPI)
GrantsEuropean Unions Framework Program Horizon 2020 German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking European Federation of Pharmacological Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) International Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust