An easier method for performing a pancreaticojejunostomy for the soft pancreas using a fast-absorbable suture

Table 1 Preoperative and operative data

	New method	Conventional method	P
	n (%)	n (%)
Patient number	35	28
Male/female	20/15	11/17	0.77
Age (yr)	64.1 ± 9.2	68.0 ± 8.6	0.09
Preoperative biliary drainage	28 (80)	19 (68)	0.27
Diabetes mellitus	8 (23)	13 (46)	0.05
Weight loss > 10%	4 (11)	4 (14)	0.74
Operative indications			< 0.01
Biliary adenocarcinoma1	28 (80)	10 (36)
Ampullary adenocarcinoma	2 (6)	2 (7)
Duodenal adenocarcinoma	1 (3)	1 (4)
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma	0	12 (43)
Other pancreatic neoplasm2	4 (11)	3 (11)
Type of resection			0.44
Classical Whipple	6 (17)	7 (25)
Pylorus-preserving	29 (83)	21 (75)
Pancreaticojejunostomy	35 (100)	28 (100)	-
Diameter of pancreatic duct (mm)	2.4 ± 0.5	4.2 ± 1.9	< 0.01
Operative time (min)	392 ± 72	418 ± 110	0.24
Time after resection (min)	187 ± 56	181 ± 66	0.74
Blood loss (g)	1074 ± 490	1112 ± 607	0.78
Patients transfused	5 (14)	5 (18)	0.7

¹Carcinomas of the bile duct and the gallbladder;

²Non-invasive intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasm, islet cell tumor, and lymphangiohemangioma of the pancreatic head.