Reveiw: Venous resection in pancreaticoduodenectomy. A new arrow in an old quiver

Extracted from text ... The South African Gastroenterology Review ? November 2006 76 REVIEW Introduction Inability to separate tumours from the portal vein/superior mesenteric vein has been traditionally considered a contraindication to resection of periampullary malignancies.1 This is also frequently the only limitation for resection at a trial dissection. Survival in resection with positive margins is similar to survival in locally advanced lesions treated nonoperatively with 5-FU and radiotherapy. This prompted surgeons to develop more radical techniques of radical lymphadenectomy and total pancreatectomy and venous resection to achieve tumour clearance with negative resection margins.2-4 Following the initial reports by Fortner5, 6 in the ..