Past Meetings
2013 How I Do It Session Video
The How I Do It Session this year focused on the surgical management of chronic pancreatitis. Dr. William Nealon (Vanderbilt University) reviewed outcomes of the surgical gold standard – resection, drainage, and hybrid procedures. Drs. John Christein (University of Alabama) and Gregory Beilman (University of Minnesota) reviewed the indications for total pancreatectomy and autologous islet transplantation (TP-AIT), reporting outcomes from their respective institutions. The gold standard surgical treatment of chronic pancreatitis patients – drainage, resection, and hybrid procedures – has over several decades documented good long term results for appropriately selected patients. Drs. Christein and Beilman both stressed the fact that substantially fewer data support the efficacy of TP-AIT, and that this modality should be used only in the context of highly select patients followed by a multidisciplinary group. The importance of experience islet isolation was stressed.