Background: Pancreatic surgery with vascular reconstruction is increasingly performed to offer the benefits of surgical resection to patients with locally advanced disease. The short- and long-term patency rates and the clinical significance of thrombosis of such reconstructions are unknown.
Methods: We reviewed pancreatectomies requiring venous reconstruction from 1994 to 2011. We sought to identify predictors of acute (within 30 days) and late thrombosis. We compared survival of patients with thrombosis to patients with patent reconstructions.
Results: Of 203 pancreatectomies requiring venous reconstruction, acute thrombosis occurred in nine (4.4 %) cases and was associated with increased perioperative mortality (22.2 versus 4.6 %, p = 0.023). Even when nonfatal, acute thrombosis was associated with decreased median survival (7.1 versus 15.9 months, p = 0.011) and increased hazard of death (hazard ratio 8.6, confidence interval 3.7-19.9, p < 0.001). A late loss of patency was seen in 31.2 % of cases at a median of 9.5 months. Later loss of patency was not associated with decreased median survival or increased hazard of death.
Conclusions: Acute thrombosis of the portal venous reconstructions after pancreatectomy is associated with increased perioperative mortality and, even when nonfatal, is associated with decreased survival. Late loss of patency occurs in one-third of patients but does not affect survival.