Pancreas surgery

Treatment, diagnosis and surgical options are discussed amongst the multidisciplinary team. Not everyone is suitable for surgery and this is considered on an individual basis.

You may have lots of questions about your surgery, what it involves and what are the risks that are associated to your surgery. We recommend that you make a list of all your concerns so that these can be answered.

Pancreas Operations

All the pancreas operations are major operations and will require you to recover in hospital for a period of time. Sometimes a diagnosis may not be as clear as we would like, or we may not be able to perform the operation, or we may have to make the diagnosis in the operating room. This will be explained to you before your surgery.

Listed below are some information booklets about some of the pancreas operations. We would recommend that you take time to read this booklet and write any additional questions you may have down.

Some of the major pancreas operations will require you to recover in our High Dependency Unit or in the Intensive Care Unit.

As with any operation, complications are always possible, and some of these can be serious. Here is a brief overview of some of the serious complications and this is described in further detail in the leaflets listed. Some of the risks associated with pancreatic surgery are: – 5% mortality (death) rate related to the pancreas surgery. This figure is a rough estimate based on a worldwide databaseBleedingInfectionleakPnemonia, heart problems, stroke, embolism

During your hospital stay some patients, not all, may require a blood transfusion. Where possible we will discuss this with you.

General Surgery Operations

Not all operations require you to stay overnight in hospital and you may be treated as ‘Day Surgery’. Common day surgery includes:

There are probably a series of questions or information you may want to know. Listed below are some of the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust leaflets to help you with that extra information you may require. We have split the sections into 2 sections (before surgery and hospital stay). Please navigate to the ‘After you Surgery’ page to help you with the aftercare information.

Before Surgery