External pancreatic duct stent reduces pancreatic fistula: A meta-analysis and systematic review

•External pancreatic duct stenting reduces postoperative pancreatic fistula formation following pancreaticoduodenectomy.•The use of an external stent was also found to significantly lessen length of hospital stay.•There was no significant difference in operative time and intraoperative blood loss between stent and non-stent groups.

BackgroundPostoperative pancreatic fistula formation (POPF) remains one of the most common and detrimental complications following pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ). The aim of this meta-analysis is to analyze the efficacy of external pancreatic duct stent placement in preventing POPF formation following PJ.MethodsThe primary end-point was the incidence of POPF formation following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in the presence and absence of external stent placement. Secondary outcomes examined were the incidence of perioperative mortality, delayed gastric emptying, postoperative wound infection, operative time, blood loss, and length of hospital stay.ResultsFour trials were included comprising 416 patients. External pancreatic duct stenting was found to reduce the incidence of both any grade POPF formation (OR 0.37, 95% CI = 0.23 to 0.58, p = 0.0001) and clinically significant (grade B or C) POPF formation (OR 0.50, 95% CI = 0.30 to 0.84, p = 0.0009) following PD. The use of an external stent was also found to significantly lessen length of hospital stay (SMD −0.39, 95% CI = −0.63 to −0.15, p = 0.001).ConclusionsThis analysis has shown that external pancreatic duct stenting is indeed efficacious in the incidence of both any grade as well as clinically significant POPF formation following PD. Length of hospital stay was also found to be significantly less by external duct stenting.