Limitation of diagnostic laparoscopy for patients with a periampullary carcinoma

Background. Diagnostic laparoscopy has been generally accepted in staging of patients with a periampullary malignancy. In our institution diagnostic laparoscopy was routinely used since 1992. However, in 1998 it was eliminated from the protocol since in a prospective study a yield of only 13% was found with a histologically proven accuracy of 60% for distant metastases. The effect of implementation of the new protocol on the occurrence of unnecessary laparotomies and the outcome after bypass surgery was assessed. Methods. Between January 1999 and December 2001, 186 consecutive patients with a potentially resectable periampullary carcinoma after radiological staging without diagnostic laparoscopy underwent explorative laparotomy with the intention to perform a curative pancreatoduodenectomy. Incidence of unresectability and outcome of palliative surgery were assessed. Results. Resection could not be performed in 65 patients who underwent laparotomy because of metastatic disease (29 patients) and loco-regional tumour ingrowth (34 patients). These patients underwent a bypass procedure with a median survival of 216 days. Conclusion. At laparotomy distant metastases were detected in 16% of the patients. Considering the fact that the detection rate of diagnostic laparoscopy is lower than 100%, the use of staging laparotomy is too limited to justify it as a routine procedure.