Surgical Treatment of Pancreatic Insulinomas: A Series of 15 Years

Abstract

Insulinomas, although rare, are the most common pancreatic functioning neuroendocrine tumors. The diagnostic workup is commonly made late in time and surgical treatment is the only curative method. Our aim was to analyze the surgical approach to pancreatic insulinomas, through a 15-year series of patients who underwent surgery for this matter. From January 2006 to December 2020, we performed a retrospective review of the medical records of all the patients who underwent surgical treatment for insulinoma. Fourteen patients with insulinoma performed surgical intervention, 78,6% were of the female gender and the mean age was 48 years (19-86 years). Four (28,6%) of the tumors were located in the head of the pancreas, 5 (35,7%) in the body and 5 (35,7%) in the tail. Complications occurred in 4 patients (28,6%) following surgery. On follow-up, there was one (7,1%) case of local recurrence, thus necessitating a new surgical intervention [1-8].