Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy for adenocarcinoma provides short-term oncologic outcomes and long-term overall survival rates similar to those for open pancreaticoduodenectomy

Background The long-term efficacy of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) relative to open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) for pancreatic adenocarcinoma has not been well studied. Methods The National Cancer Data Base was used to compare patients undergoing LPD and OPD for stage I-II pancreatic adenocarcinoma between 2010 and 2013. Results 828 (10%) patients underwent LPD and 7385 (90%) OPD. There were no differences in tumor or demographic characteristics between groups. On multivariable analysis adjusted for hospital volume, LPD was associated with a lower rate of readmission (p < 0.01) and trends toward shorter initial length of stay (p = 0.14) and time to adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.11). There were no differences between patients undergoing LPD and those undergoing OP in rates of margin negative resection, number of lymph nodes examined, perioperative mortality and median overall survival (20.7 vs 20.9 months, p = 0.68). Conclusions For patients with localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma, LPD provides short-term oncologic and long-term overall survival outcomes identical to OPD and is associated with decreased rates of readmission and a trend towards accelerated recovery.