EAES Academy

Background:
During last nine years, several studies showed advantages of early surgery in chronic pancreatitis, in three years after symptoms onset. The aim of this study is to research whether there are advantages of early surgery or not, especially for pain relief.
Materials and methods. Retrospective analysis of data of 147 patients from 2001 to 2020, which undergone surgery for chronic pancreatitis. Patients who suffered from chronic pancreatitis symptoms 3 years or more were included in the control group ("late surgery"), and patients who noted symptoms of chronic pancreatitis less than 3 years were included in the study group ("early surgery"). All patients completed the EORTC QLQ-30, SF-36 questionnaires, as well as the questionnaire developed by the study authors, via telephone or mail or during the visit.
Results:

According to all scales of the SF 36 questionnaire, except for "Physical functioning", the group of "Early surgery" prevails over the group of "Late surgery". The “Early Surgery” group had the best average scores on all functional scales of the EORTC QLQ-30 questionnaire compared to the Late Surgery group, except for the Cognitive Functioning scale. From the symptomatic scales, the Early Surgery group had the best averages of Pain and Diarrhoea. The average Health / Quality of Life scale was significantly better in the “Early Surgery” group.
Conclusion:
The quality of life, pain, pancreatic function of patients operated on up to 3 years from the onset of symptoms of CP, compared with patients with longer disease duration, were better, with the same short-term results. The term of the disease is a major factor of the success of surgical treatment of chronic pancreatitis in terms of long-term results. The early surgery is effective approach to obtain better long-term outcomes in chronic pancreatitis.