This study aimed to examine the incidence of bifid pancreatic duct (BPD) in pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and clarify its impact on clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF).
Until now, all the literature about BPD during PD are published as case reports, and the incidence of BPD in PD and its impact on CR-POPF remain unknown.
A total of 438 consecutive PDs were divided into two groups: the former year group and the latter year group. The former year group included 215 consecutive PDs, while the latter year group included 223. In the latter year group, we found 16 BPDs during PD (O-BPD); the incidence of O-BPD is 7.17%. Of them, there were eight patients who had BPD in the preoperative imaging (I-BPD). All the I-BPDs are O-BPDs; which means that 50% of O-BPDs were a single pancreatic duct in the preoperative imaging (I-SPD). There were 17 I-BPDs in the 438 consecutive PDs; the incidence of I-BPD is 3.88%. In the former year group, the rate of severe complications of I-BPD and I-SPD is 77.78% and 27.18%, respectively (
The incidence of O-BPD in PD is 7.17%, 50% of O-BPDs were I-SPD, and the incidence of I-BPD is 3.88%. BPD is an independent risk factor of CR-POPF. The suture closure method may be a simple, safe, and effective method in dealing with BPD in PD.