Abstract
Panceaticoduodenectomy was performed on 45 patients during the past nine and a half year. Sixteen (35.6%) of the patients were aged (over 70 years old). Eleven patients (4 aged) with bile duct cancer, 16 (7 aged) with cancer of the ampulla of Vater, 11 (3 aged) with cancer of the pancreas head, and 7 patients with other malignant or benign diseases were operated on. Preoperative biliary drainage was performed in 14 (87.4%) of the aged patients and in 14 (48.3%) of the younger patients. The postoperative morbidity rate was 43.8% for the aged and 37.8% for the younger patients. The survival rates for the aged and the younger patients, respectively, were as follows: 100%, 17.2% at the third year for bile duct cancer; 33.3%, 31.3% at the third year for cancer of the papilla of Vater; 0%, 30% at the first year for pancreas head cancer. Pancreaticoduodenectomy for aged patients should be performed for bile duct cancer and cancer of the papilla of Vater if possible.
