A chronicle of the pancreatoduodenectomy technique development – from the surgeon’s hand to the robotic arm

Abstract

Background Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) remains one of the most challenging abdominal surgical procedures. Methods A review of the literature regarding the history of PD, starting from the pioneers, Walter Kausch and Alan Whipple, through the great surgeons of the last century, up to the present day. Results The greatest development of the PD technique took place at the end of the twentieth century. Over the last 40 years, there have been huge technological advances in medicine, which have resulted in the introduction of laparoscopic and robotic techniques for abdominal surgery. However, it turns out that PD is still performed as it used to be "by the surgeon’s hand" via laparotomy rather than using the most modern robot or laparoscope and is currently recommended by experts for treatment of pancreatic head cancer (PHC). This is mainly caused by not many data comparing these three PD methods. Moreover, increasingly the results achieved by surgeons advanced in minimally invasive pancreatic resections are comparable to or even better than those achieved by the open method in reference centres. Robot-assisted PD appears to be gaining an advantage over laparoscopic technique in the efficacy of PHC treatment. The obstacles most inhibiting the use of surgical robotics are the high cost of the device and procedure, and the long learning curve. A bright future lies ahead for both methods, with the robotic technique in the forefront. Conclusions Despite significant advances in access and surgical technique, PD remains a challenging surgical procedure requiring a big surgeon’s experience.