Chapter 33: Pancreas Flashcards
Rests on aorta, behind SMV
Uncinate process
Lays behind neck of pancreas
SMV and SMA
Forms behind the neck (SMV and splenic vein)
Portal vein
Blood supply to head of pancreas
Superior (off GDA) and inferior (off SMA), pancreaticoduoenal arteries (anterior and posterior branches for each)
Blood supply to body of pancreas
great, inferior, and caudal pancreatic arteries (all off splenic artery)
Blood supply to tail of pancreas
Splenic, gastroepiploic and dorsal pancreatic arteries
Venous drainage of the pancreas
Portal system
Lymphatics for pancreas
Celiac and SMA nodes
Pancreas: cells secrete HCO3- solution (have carbonic anhydrase)
Ductal cells
Pancreas: cells secrete digestive enzymes
Acinar cells
Exocrine function of the pancreas
Amylase, lipase, trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, carboxypeptidase, HCO3-
Only pancreatic enzyme secreted in active form; hydrolyzes alpha 1-4 linkages of glucose chains
Amylase
Endocrine function of the pancreas:
- Alpha
- Beta
- Delta
- PP or F cells
- Islet cells
- Alpha: glucagon
- Beta: (center of islets): insulin
- Delta: somatostatin
- PP or F cells: pancreatic polypeptide
- Islet cells: also produce VIP, serotonin
Endocrine: receive majority of blood supply related to size
Islets cells
- after islets, blood goes to acinar cells
Released by the duodenum, activates trypsinogen to trypsin
Enterokinase
After being activated by enterokinase, Activates pancreatic enzymes, including trypsinogen
Trypsin
Hormonal control of pancreatic excretion
Secretin, CCK, Acetylcholine, somatostatin, glucagon, CCK and secretin
Increases HCO3- mostly
Secretin
Increases pancreatic enzymes mostly
CCK
Increases HCO- and enzymes
Acetylcholine
Decreases exocrine function
Somatostatin and glucagons
Mostly released by cells in the duodenum
CCK and secretin
Connected to duct of Wirsung; migrates posteriorly, to the right, and clockwise to fuse with the dorsal bud
- Forms uncinate and inferior portion of the head
Ventral pancreatic bud
Body, tail, and superior aspect of the pancreatic head; has duct of Santorini
Dorsal pancreatic bud
Major pancreatic duct that merges with CBD before entering duodenum
Duct of Wirsung
Small accessory pancreatic duct that drains directly into duodenum
Duct of Santorini
2nd portion of duodenum trapped in pancreatic band; can see double bubble on abdominal XR; get duodenal obstruction (N/V, abdominal pain)
Annular pancreas
What is annular pancreas associated with?
Down syndrome; forms the ventral pancreatic bud from failure of clockwise rotation
Tx: annular pancreas
Duodenojejunostomy and duodenoduodenostomy; possible sphincteroplasty
- pancreas not resected
Failed fusion of the pancreatic ducts; can result in pancreatitis from duct of Santorini (accessory duct) stenosis
- Most are asymptomatic; some get pancreatitis
Pancreas divisum
Dx: pancreas divisum
ERCP - minor papilla will show long and large duct of Santorini; major papilla will show short duct of Wirsung
Tx: pancreas divisum
ERCP with sphincteroplasty; open sphincteroplasty if that fails
- Most commonly found in duodenum
- usually asymptomatic
- surgical resection if symptomatic
heterotopic pancreas
Acute pancreatitis: Most common etiologies in the US
Gallstones and ETOG
Etiologies of acute pancreatitis
Gallstones, ETOH, ERCP trauma, HLD, Hyper-Ca, viral infection, medications (azathioprine, furosemide, steroids, cimetidine)
How do gallstones cause acute pancreatitis?
Can obstruct the ampulla of Vater, causing impaired extrusion of zymogen granules and activation of degradation enzymes -> leads to pancreatic auto-digestion
How does alcohol cause acute pancreatitis?
Can cause auto-activation of the pancreatic enzymes while still in the pancreas
Symptoms: abdominal pain radiating to the back, nausea, vomiting, anorexia
- can also get jaundice, left pleural effusion, ascites or sentinel loop (dilated small bowel near the pancreas as a result of the inflammation)
Acute pancreatitis
Mortality rate of acute pancreatitis
Mortality rate 10%; hemorrhagic pancreatitis mortality 50%
What do you need to worry about in pancreatitis without an obvious cause?
Need to worry about malignancy
Ranson’s criteria on admission
Age > 55 WBC > 16 Glucose > 200 AST > 250 LDH > 350
Ranson’s criteria after 48 hours
Hct decrease 10%
BUN increase of 5
Ca 4
Fluid sequestration > 6L
What is a patient has 8 components of the Ranson’s criteria?
Mortality rate near 100%
Labs: acute pancreatitis
Increased amylase, lipase, and WBCs
Ultrasound: acute pancreatitis
Needed to check for gallstones and possible CBD dilatation
Abdominal CT: acute pancreatitis
To check for complications (necrotic pancreas will not uptake contrast)
Tx: acute pancreatitis
NPO, aggressive fluid resuscitation
- ERCP (gallstone pancreatitis and retained CBD stones)
- Antibiotics (stones, severe pancreatitis, failure to improve, or suspected infection)
- TPN (recovery period)
- Cholecystectomy (gall stones)
- No morphine
When is ERCP needed in acute pancreatitis?
Gallstone pancreatitis and retained CBD stones -> perform sphincterotomy and stone extraction
When are antibiotics needed for acute pancreatitis?
Stones, severe pancreatitis, failure to improve, or suspected infection
What is the role of cholecystectomy with acute pancreatitis?
Patients with gallstone pancreatitis should undergo cholecystectomy when recovered from pancreatitis (same hospital admission)
Why is morphine avoided in acute pancreatitis?
Should be avoided as it can contract the sphincter of Oddi and worsen attack
Sign: flank ecchymosis
Grey Turner sign (bleeding)
Sign: periumbilical ecchymosis
Cullen’s sign (bleeding)
Sign: inguinal ecchymosis
Fox’s sign (bleeding)
What are three physical exam signs of bleeding?
- Grey turner (flank)
- Cullen’s (periumbilical)
- Fox’s (inguinal)
Rate of pancreatic necrosis
15% get pancreatic necrosis; leave sterile necrosis alone
Management: infected pancreatic necrosis
- May need to sample necrotic pancreatic fluid with CT-guided aspiration to get diagnosis
- Surgical debridement
Fever, positive blood cultures in acute pancreatitis
Infected necrosis of pancreas
Tx: pancreatic abscess
Need surgical debridement
Is CT-guided drainage of infected pancreatic necrosis or pancreatic abscess effective?
Generally not effective
Gas in necrotic pancreas..
Infected necrosis or abscess (need open debridement)
Leading cause of death with pancreatitis
Infection (usually GNRs)
When is surgery indicated in pancreatitis?
Only for infected pancreatitis or pancreatic abscess
Most important risk factor for necrotizing pancreatitis
Obesity
Pancreatitis: complication related to phospholipases
- ARDS
- Pancreatic fat necrosis
Pancreatitis: complication related to proteases
Coagulopathy
What is related to mild increases in amylase and lipase?
Can be seen with cholecystitis, perforated ulcer, sialoadenitis, small bowel obstruction, and intestinal infarction
What is associated with chronic pancreatitis?
Pancreatic pseudocysts
Cysts NOT associated with pancreatitis..
Need to r/o CA (eg, mucinous cystadenocarcinoma)
Symptoms: pain, fever, weight loss, bowel obstruction from compression
Pancreatic pseudocysts
Where do pancreatic pseudocysts often occur?
The head of the pancreas; is a non-epitheliazed sac
TX: pancreatic pseudocysts
Most resolve spontaneously (especially if
When is surgery indicated in pancreatic pseudocysts?
Continued symptoms (tx: cystogastrostomy, open or percutaneous) or pseudocysts that are growing (tx: resection r/o CA)
Complications of pancreatic pseudocysts
Infection of cyst, portal or splenic vein thrombosis
Management: incidental cysts not associated with pancreatitis
Should be resected (worry about intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) or mutinous cystuadenocarcinoma) unless the cyst is purely serous and non-complex
Management of non-complex , purely serous cyst adenomas
Have an extremely low malignancy risk (
- most close spontaneously (especially if low output
Pancreatic fistulas
Pancreatic fistulas: tx for failure to resolve with medical management
Can try ERCP, sphincterotomy and pancreatic stent placement (fistula will usually close, then remove stent)
What causes pancreatitis-associated pleural effusion (or ascites)?
Caused by retroperitoneal leakage of pancreatic fluid from the pancreatic duct or a pseudocyst (is not a pancreatic-pleural fistula); majority close on their own
Tx: pancreatitis-associated pleural effusion (or ascites)
Thoracentesis (or paracentesis) followed by conservative tx (NPO, TPN, and octreotide - follow pancreatic fistula pathway above)
- amylase will be elevated in the fluid
Pathophysiology of chronic pancreatitis
Corresponds to irreversible parenchymal fibrosis
MCC chronic pancreatitis
1) ETOH 2) Idiopathic
Pain most common problem, anorexia, weight loss, malabsorption, steatorrhea, recurrent acute pancreatitis
Chronic pancreatitis
Endocrine / exocrine chronic pancreatitis
- Endocrine function: usually preserved (Islet cell preserved)
- Exocrine function: decreased
Nutritional deficiency in chronic pancreatitis
Can cause malabsorption of fat-soluble vitamins
- Tx: pancrelipase
Dx: chronic pancreatitis
- Abdominal CT: shrunken pancreas with calcifications
- US: pancreatic ducts > 4mm, cysts and atrophy
- ERCP: very sensitive
How does advanced chronic pancreatitis affect pancreatic duct?
Advanced disease - chain of Lakes - alternating segments of dilation and stenosis in pancreatic ducts
Tx: chronic pancreatitis
Supportive, including pain control and nutritional support (pancrelipase)
Surgical indications: chronic pancreatitis
Pain that interferes with quality of life, nutrition abnormalities, addiction to narcotics, failure to rule out CA, biliary obstruction
Surgical options
Puestow procedure, Distal pancreatic resection, Whipple, Beger-Frey, Bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy or celiac glanglionectomy
Chronic pancreatitis: Puestow procedure
Pancreaticojejunostomy, for enlarge ducts > 8mm (most patients improve) -> open along main pancreatic duct and drain into jejunum
Chronic pancreatitis: distal pancreatic resection
For normal or small ducts and only distal portion of the gland is affected
Chronic pancreatitis: whipple
For normal or small ducts with isolated pancreatic head disease
Chronic pancreatitis: beger-frey
Duodenal preserving head (“core-out”) - for normal or small ducts with isolated pancreatic head enlargement
Chronic pancreatitis: techniques for pain control
Bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy or celiac ganglionectomy
Chronic pancreatitis: causes CBD dilation
Common bile duct stricture
- Tx: hepaticojejunostomy or choledochojejunostomy for pain, jaundice, progressive cirrhosis, or cholangitis (make sure the stricture is not pancreatic CA)
MCC splenic vein thrombosis
Chronic pancreatitis
Tx: splenic vein thrombosis
Can get bleeding from isolated gastric varies that form as collaterals
- Tx: splenectomy for isolated bleeding gastric varices
What causes pancreatic insufficiency?
Usually the result of long-standing pancreatitis or occurs after total pancreatectomy (over 90% of the function must be lost)
- Generally refers to exocrine function
Symptoms: pancreatic insufficiency
Malabsorption and steatorrhea
Dx: pancreatic insufficiency
Fecal fat testing
Tx: pancreatic insufficiency
High-carbohydrate, high-protein, low-fat diet; pancreatic enzymes (pancrease)
Jaundice workup
Ultrasound first
- positive CBD stones, no mass -> ERCP (allows extraction of stones)
- No CBD stones, no mass-> MRCP
- Positive mass-> MRCP
- male predominance; usually 6th-7th decades of life
- symptoms: weight loss (MC symptom), jaundice, pain
pancreatic adenocarcinoma
5 year survival rate with resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma
20%
1 risk factor for pancreatic adenocarcinoma
tobacco
Serum marker / mutation for pancreatic CA
- CA19-9: serum marker
- 95% have p16 mutation (tumor suppressor, binds cyclin complexes)
How does pancreatic adenocarcinoma spread?
Lymphatic spread first
Where are pancreatic adenocarcinomas found?
- 70% head
- 90% ductal adenocarcinoma
How does pancreatic adenoCA in the head usually present?
50% invade portal vein, SMV, or retroperitoneum at time of diagnosis (unresectable disease)
What indicates unresectable disease in pancreatic adenoma?
Metastases to peritoneum, omentum or liver. Metastases to celiac or SMA nodal system (nodal systems outside area of resection)
What offers the best chance of cure in pancreatic adenoCA?
Most cures in patients with pancreatic head disease
What offers a more favorable prognosis in ductal adenocarcinoma?
Papillary or mucinous cyst-adenocarcinoma
Labs: pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Increased conjugated bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase
Do patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma need a biopsy?
Do not need a biopsy because you are taking it out regardless. if the patient appears to have metastatic disease, a biopsy is warranted to direct therapy
Good at differentiating dilated ducts secondary to chronic pancreatitis vs CA
MRCP
Signs of CA on MRCP
Duct with regular narrowing, displacement, destruction; can also detect vessel involvement
What will abdominal CT show in pancreatic adenocarcinoma?
May show the lesion and double-duct sign for pancreatic hear tumors (dilation of both the pancreatic duct and CBD)
Mananagement unresectable pancreatic adenoCA
Consider palliation with biliary stents or hepaticojejunostomy (for biliary obstruction), gastrojejunostomy (for duodenal obstruction), and celiac plexus ablation (for pain)
Complications from Whipple
Delayed gastric emptying (#1 - tx: metoclopramide), fistula (tx; conservative therapy), leak (place drains and tx like a fistula), marginal ulceration (tx: ppi)
1 complication after Whipple
Delayed gastric emptying
Management: bleeding after Whipple or other pancreatic surgery
Go to angio for embolization (the tissue planes are very friable early after surgery, and bleeding is hard to control operatively)
Postop management pancreatic adenoCa
Chemo-XRT usual post op (gemcitabine)
Prognosis for non-metastatic disease pancreatic adeno ca
Prognosis for non-metastatic disease related to nodal invasion and ability to get a clear margin
Represent 1/3 of pancreatic endocrine neoplasms
- tend to have a more indolent and protracted course compared with pancreatic adenoCA
Non-functional endocrine tumors
Malignancy potential of non-functional endocrine tumors
90% of the nonfunctional tumors are malignant
Surgical management: non-functional endocrine tumors
Resect these lesions: metastatic disease precludes resection
Chemotherapy: non-functional endocrine tumors
5FU and streptozocin may be effective
MC site of metastases in non-functional endocrine tumors
Liver
Represent 2/3 of pancreatic endocrine neoplasms
- all tumors respond to debulking
Functional endocrine pancreatic tumors
Treatment effective for insulinoma, glucagonoma, gastrinoma, VIPoma
Octreotide
Functional endocrine pancreatic tumors: most common in pancreatic head
Gastrinoma, somatostatinoma
Metastases of functional endocrine pancreatic tumors
Liver metastatic spread - 1st for all
- MC islet cell tumor of the pancreas
- Whipple’s triad
- 90% are benign and evenly distributed throughout pancreas
Insulinoma
- Fasting hypoglycemia (
Whipple’s triad
Dx: insulinoma
- Insulin to glucose ratio > 0.4 after fasting
- Increased C peptide and proinsulin (if not elevated, suspect Munchausen’s syndrome)
Tx: insulinoma
Enucleate if 2 cm
- For metastatic disease: 5-FU and streptozocin; octreotide
- Most common pancreatic islet cell tumor in MEN-1 patients
- 50% malignant and 50% multiple
- 75% spontaneous and 25% MEN-1
Gastrinoma (Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome (ZES))
Where are most gastrinomas found?
Gastrinoma triangle: common bile duct, neck of pancreas, third portion of the duodenum
Symptoms: refractory or complicated ulcer disease and diarrhea (improved with PPI)
- Serum gastrin usually > 200; 1,000s is diagnostic
Gastrinoma (ZES)
Secretin stimulation test in gastrinoma
- ZES: increase gastrin (>200)
- Normal: decrease gastrin
Treatment: gastrinoma
Enucleation if 2 cm
- Malignant disease: excise suspicious nodes
- Can’t find it: perform duodenostomy and look inside duodenum for tumor (15% of microgastrinomas there)
- Duodenal tumor: resection with primary closure, may need Whipple
- Debulking, can improve symptoms
- Octreotide scan
Single best test for localizing tumor
Octreotide scan
- Symptoms: diabetes, stomatitis, dermatitis (rash - necrolytic migratory erythema), weight loss
- Diagnosis: fasting glucagon level
- Most malignant; most in distal pancreas
Glucagonoma
What can treat skin rash in glucagonoma?
Zinc, amino acids, or fatty acids may treat skin rash
Verner-Morrison syndrome
VIPoma
Symptoms: watery diarrhea, hypokalemia (diarrhea), and achlorhydria (WDGA)
VIPoma (Verner-Morrison syndrome)
Dx: VIPoma
Exclude other causes of diarrhea; increased VIP levels
Characteristics of VIPoma
- Most malignant
- Most in distal pancreas
- 10% extrapancreatic (retroperitoneal, thorax)
- very rare
- symptoms: diabetes, gallstones, steatorrhea, hypochlorhydria
- most malignant, most in head of pancreas
Somatostatinoma
Dx: somatostatinoma
fasting somatostatin level
Tx: somatostatinoma
Perform cholecystectomy with resection