Standard retrograde pancreatosplenectomy versus radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy for body and tail pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic surgery remains the only established curative treatment for pancreatic cancer. Radical antegrade pancreatosplenectomy (RAMPS) is a modification of the standard retrograde pancreatosplenectomy (SRPS) developed to achieve a complete N1 node resection and R0 resection (posterior extent). The aim of this study is to compare the short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes of RAMPS and SRPS. From a database that included 143 consecutive patients who underwent resection for pancreatic carcinoma at the St. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome, 25 patients who underwent pancreatosplenectomy were retrospectively reviewed. Among these 25 patients, eight (32\%) underwent RAMPS (Group 1) and 17 (68\%) underwent SRPS (Group 2). Clinicopathologic and oncological characteristics of the RAMPS group were compared with those of the SRPS group. RAMPS was longer than SRPS (315 vs 265 minutes, respectively, P < 0.001). No differences were encountered for perioperative outcomes (estimated blood loss, intraoperative blood transfusions, postoperative morbidity and mortality, and hospital stay). The margin status rates were similar: noteworthy, the two patients with positive tangential margins belonged to Group 2. No between-group differences in survival were encountered: the actuarial 5-year overall survival for Groups 1 and 2 were 26 and 29 per cent, respectively (P = 0.6608; hazard ratio, 1.2621; 95\% confidence interval, 0.4462 to 3.5699). RAMPS and SRPS did not differ statistically in terms of perioperative outcomes. RAMPS seems to allow better control of tangential margins; however, no difference was found in actuarial survival compared with standard pancreatosplenectomy.