Prevention of Chyle-leak After Major Pancreatic Surgery

Overview

Chyle is lymphatic fluid present in the wall of the intestine. It flows trough lymphatic vessels to cisterna chyli and to venous circulation carrying lymphatic fluid, long-chain triglyceride fatty acids and proteins, fatty soluble vitamins and electrolytes. Lymphatic vessels are at risk of damage in pancreatic surgery and especially when there is vein/artery resection and reconstruction at the same time. Chyle leak can be seen in post-operative patients when there is milky substance coming out of the surgical drains and drain fluids triglyceride level is high (\>1,5 mmol/l). Patients with chyle leak are at risk of dehydration, malnutrition, sepsis and prolonged stay at the hospital. Usually treatment of chyle leak is with drains and no-fat diet up to 14 days after surgery. Sometimes combined with somatostatine-analogue-treatment. In this study investigators are randomizing patients with major pancreatic surgery in to two groups. Intervention group will start no-fat diet, including MCT-oil, right after surgery up to 2 weeks. And control group will start the diet if chyle-leak is seen. End goal is to reduce chyle-leaks in post-operative patients and analyze if it has an effect on patients prognosis.

Patient who come for pancreatic surgery and vein resection/reconstruction will be randomized before surgery in two groups. Intervention group will start the no-fat diet right after surgery, with MCT-oil supplement. Diet will be continued up to 14 days after surgery. The control group will start the diet if chyle leak is diagnosed. Criteria of chyle leak in this study is appearance of milky-coloured fluid from the surgical drains in post-operative day 3 and drain fluids triglyceride levels must be high (\>1,5 mmol/l). After enough patients have been recruited in the study, patient records are then analyzed to see if the no-fat diet has any effect on incidence of chyle-leak.