• Benedict Kinny-Köster, Arnaud Lambrecht, Viktoria Flossmann, Verena Steinle, Aghnia J Putri, Max Heckler, Jörg Kaiser, Thomas Hank, Susanne Roth, Beat P Müller-Stich, Oliver Strobel, Markus K Diener, Martin Schneider, Christoph Berchtold, Mohammed Al-Saeedi, Thilo Hackert, Arianeb Mehrabi, Markus W Büchler, and Martin Loos.
• Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany.
• Ann. Surg. 2024 Nov 7.

ObjectiveTo investigate patency and clinical outcomes of alloplastic and other venous interposition graft materials in pancreatic surgery.BackgroundVascular pancreatic surgery is increasingly performed for locally advanced pancreatic neoplasms. Different than other centers, we prefer to use alloplastic vascular graft materials for superior mesenteric vein and portal vein interposition in pancreatic surgery. Advantages are off-the-shelf availability at any customizable length, different diameters, and ring-enforcement but proposed concerns are their thrombogenicity and fatal complications.MethodsPatients who underwent elective pancreatic resections with mesoportal venous interposition grafts (ISGPS type 4) between 2003-2022 were identified from the institutional pancreatectomy registry. Alloplastic vascular grafts imply synthetic materials, either based on polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Surgical details, clinicopathological, and follow-up data were analyzed. The patients were followed for graft patency by cross-sectional imaging.ResultsIn this study, 201 patients with venous interposition grafts were included (23% simultaneous arterial resections). Total pancreatectomy (41%) and pancreatoduodenectomy (35%) were the most frequent procedures. Vascular graft materials were alloplastic in 180 patients (83% PTFE and 17% PET) with a median diameter of 10 mm and a median length of 33 mm (measurement by CT scan). Patency rates among all graft materials at 7-, 30-, and 90-days were 99%, 93%, and 87%. Alloplastic grafts demonstrated superior patency over other materials (hazard ratio 2.7, P=0.009), and PTFE reached a 1-year patency of 78%. The all-cause 90-day mortality rate was 10%. No graft infection occurred.ConclusionAlloplastic venous vascular grafts are safe and readily available tools in pancreatic surgery, especially for long-segmental mesoportal venous reconstructions.Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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