Postoperative findings following the Whipple procedure: determination of prevalence and morphologic abdominal CT features

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine characteristic CT findings following the Whipple procedure and to evaluate the usefulness of CT in predicting tumor recurrence. Eighty-four postoperative abdominal CT scans and medical records of 43 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Perioperative histopathologic examinations revealed malignancy in 32 patients (74.4 %). Time interval between surgery and CT varied from 13 days to 6 years and 7 months. Common postoperative findings were unopacified anastomotic bowel loops in the porta hepatis (n = 69 scans), perivascular cuffing (n = 42 scans), pneumobilia (n = 40 scans), dilated intrahepatic bile ducts (n = 22 scans), reactive lymphadenopathy (n = 21 scans), and transient fluid collections (n = 20 scans). Postoperative complications were detected on 17 CT scans (20.2 %): generalized ascites (n = 8 patients), deep abscesses (n = 3 patients), wound abscess (n = 1 patient), pancreatitis (n = 1 patient), and pseudomembranous colitis (n = 1 patient). Tumor recurrence appeared in 15 patients (46.8 %) after a mean postoperative period of 11 months (1 month to 3 years): local (9 of 15), regional lymph nodes (9 of 15), and liver metastasis (8 of 15). Detection of generalized ascites more than 30 days after surgery was associated with tumor recurrence in 6 of 6 patients (100 %). Diffuse ascites (> 30 days after surgery) behaved as an early predictive sign of tumor recurrence. In our series CT accuracy for detecting recurrent tumor with CT was 93.5 %. No predilection site for disease recurrence could be determined.