Robotic Whipple Procedure

Authors

Chris Robert, HCA HealthcareFollow
Soomal Memon, HCA HealthcareFollow
Umar Butt
Furrukh Jabbar, HCA HealthcareFollow

Files

Division

North Texas

Hospital

Medical City Plano

Specialty

General Surgery

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2025

Keywords

pancreatic cancer, pancreaticduodenectomy

Disciplines

Digestive System Diseases | Medicine and Health Sciences | Neoplasms | Surgery | Surgical Procedures, Operative

Abstract

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive tumor with surgery being the corner stone of multidisciplinary treatment. Pancreaticoduodenectomy is a technically demanding procedure associated with significant morbidity. Case presentation: 70-year-old man with a past history of hypertension presented with jaundice, dark urine and a total bilirubin of 24. His CT scan showed biliary and pancreatic ducal dilation. An EUS revealed a 2cm pancreatic mass with an intact interface between the mass and splenoportal confluence, the biopsy was suggestive of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. We performed a Robotic Whipple procedure. Robotic Whipple surgery is superior in meticulous dissection of the retro pancreatic tunnel. This patient had an uneventful recovery, his drain amylase was 109 on day 3 and he was discharged on post operative day 6. Patient came in for a post operative visit at 2 weeks when the drain was removed Learning points: The ability to achieve R0 resection is about 60% in open cases. Robotic surgery affords clear advantages in that it has more lymph node yield and affords accurate dissection of difficult anatomic zone which are important in achieving a margin negative resection. Robotic surgery facilitates dissection down to the adventitia of the superior mesenteric vein which are important is achieving a margin free resection. We noted superior visualization of retro pancreatic tunnel to take the pancreatic corpus off the portal vein as well. Several studies show robotic Whipple has lower rates of wound infection, blood loss, lower delayed gastric emptying and lower hospital stay. Conclusion: Robotic approach for Whipple procedure defect is a safe and valid option for the extensive resection and reconstruction

Original Publisher

HCA Healthcare Graduate Medical Education

Recommended Citation

Robert, Chris; Memon, Soomal; Butt, Umar; and Jabbar, Furrukh, "Robotic Whipple Procedure" (2025). North Texas Research Forum 2025. 43.
https://scholarlycommons.hcahealthcare.com/northtexas2025/43