PSEUDOCYSTS OF THE PANCREAS - CHOOSING TH E BEST TREATMENT

Pseudocysts of the pancreas may require drainage or resection during t heir evolution. External drainage can be considered as a treatment of first resort with low related morbidity. It also offers a means of tre ating patients with major contraindications for surgery. In our experi ence, however, only 55% of external drainages prove successful. Theref ore, surgical treatment, even at the cost of low-rate morbidity, remai ns the only final treatment for complications linked to pseudocysts of the pancreas. In the long term, however, these results depend on the etiology of the pseudocysts.