Management of the pancreatic remnant during Whipple operation

The role of surgical resection in the treatment of pancreatic cancer was established in 1935 by Whipple and associates with the demonstration that resections of the head of the pancreas could be technically performed. Accumulated clinical experience with pancreatic resectioning has demonstrated that radical surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer results in significant morbidity and mortality and is applicable only to a small fraction of patients with pancreatic malignancies. International literature suggests that in most patients, pancreatic malignancies are diagnosed at late stages when surgical cure by any type of procedure is not possible.