• Seiji Oguro, Kazuaki Shimada, Yoji Kishi, Satoshi Nara, Minoru Esaki, and Tomoo Kosuge.
• Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
• Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2013 Apr 1;398(4):531-8.

PurposeAlthough a pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) has been recently regarded as a safe surgical procedure at high-volume centers, the efficacy of PD for patients 80 years of age and older is controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perioperative and long-term outcomes following PD in patients 80 years of age and older.MethodsElderly patients 80 years of age and older who underwent PD between 2001 and 2009 were identified. The perioperative and long-term outcomes were compared with patients younger than 80 years of age.ResultsOf 561 total patients, 22 patients (3.9 %) were 80 years of age or older. Mortality occurred in one patient (4.5 %). Postoperative major complications (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥ grade III) occurred in six patients (27.3 %) in this group, which was significantly higher than in patients younger than 80 years of age (P = 0.008). The survival of the elderly patients undergoing PD for pancreatic cancer was significantly shorter than that for the same patient group with other diseases (median survival, 13 versus 82 months; P = 0.014). Only one elderly patient with pancreatic cancer survived more than 3 years.ConclusionsPD for pancreatic cancer in patients aged 80 and older should be carefully selected, because it is associated with a higher incidence of severe postoperative complications and a small change of long-term survival.

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