Background: The effectiveness of an external pancreatic duct stent for reduction of the pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy remains controversial.
Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Reviews of each trial were conducted and data were extracted. The primary outcome was pancreatic fistula. Statistical pooling used the fixed or random effects model and reported as risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with the corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CI).
Results: Four RCTs including a total of 416 patients were detected. Methodological quality assessment revealed a better quality of all analyzed trials. Placing an external stent across pancreaticojejunal anastomosis could significantly reduce the incidence of pancreatic fistula (RR = 0.57, 95 % CI = 0.41-0.80, P = 0.001, I (2) = 0 %), overall morbidity (RR = 0.79, 95 % CI = 0.64-0.98, P = 0.03), and the length of hospital stay (MD = -3.98 days, 95 % CI = -6.42 to -1.54, P = 0.001, I (2) = 13 %). No significant difference was found in terms of hospital mortality, delayed gastric emptying, operation time, operative blood loss, blood replacement, and reoperation rate.
Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides compelling evidence that the application of an external pancreatic duct stent after pancreaticoduodenectomy can decrease the incidence of pancreatic leakage when compared with no stent. Moreover, the external drainage of pancreatic juice is associated with lower postoperative overall morbidity and shorter hospital stay.