Surgery is used when diagnostic test report that pancreatic cancer is still localized or it is possible to remove the entire tumor. Most of surgery treatment is applied to treat cancers in the head of the pancreas. Some of these cancers are early detectable because it block the bile duct and cause symptoms.
There is tree procedures used to removing pancreatic cancer using surgery. They are:
Pancreaticoduodenectomy also known as the whipple procedure. This method is the most commonly used surgery for removing pancreatic cancer from head and body of the pancreas, a part of the stomach, duodenum, small portion of the jejunum, gallbladder, and part of the common bile duct.
This operation carries a relatively high risk of complications. About 30%-50% who treat with this operation has experience complications, such as leakage from the various surgical connections, bleeding and infections. It happens because the treatments engage a serious and complicated surgical process.
Distal Pancreatectomy only removes the tail or the tail and a portion of the body of the pancreas. This operation is used more often with endocrine pancreatic cancer.
Total Pancreatectomy, this operation aimed to removes the entire pancreas organ and the spleen. Once the pancreas organ is removed, patients will not be able to produce insulin and this means patients will be totally dependent on injected insulin. There does not appear to be any treatment advantage to removing the whole pancreas organ.
