To investigate the effect of different acupuncture methods on gastric juice drainage in patients with grade C delayed gastric emptying (DGE) after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with grade C DGE after pancreaticoduodenectomy who received acupuncture treatment from January 2015 to September 2021. According to the acupuncture methods, the patients were divided into body acupuncture group and ear-body acupuncture group. The patients in both groups were matched 1∶1, using propensity score matching based on the baseline gastric fluid drainage. The differences in the primary outcome indicators[short-term (within 3 d) outcome, long-term (within 10 d) outcome] and secondary outcome indicators (length of postoperative hospital stay, proportion of patients discharged with a gastric tube, incidence of adverse events during treatment) were compared between the two groups.

A total of 65 patients with DGE who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled, including 34 patients (52.3%) in the ear-body acupuncture group and 31 patients (47.7%) in the body acupuncture group. (1)Short-term efficacy: A total of 23 patients in the ear-body acupuncture group and 23 patients in the body acupuncture group were enrolled after matching by propensity score method. The short-term decrease rate of gastric fluid drainage in the ear-body acupuncture group was higher than that in the body acupuncture group[42.7%(19.6%, 65.1%) vs. 6.5%(-14.7%, 50.6%), P=0.034]. (2) Long-term efficacy and secondary outcome indicators: There were 4 and 6 patients in the body acupuncture group and the ear-body acupuncture group, respectively, who had their gastric tubes successfully removed within 3 d of treatment. Their long-term efficacy of treatment could not be calculated, so they were excluded. After matching the two groups again using the propensity score method, a total of 16 patients in the ear-body acupuncture group and 16 patients in the body acupuncture group were included. There were no adverse events during treatment in both groups, and the rate of long-term gastric drainage decline was higher in the ear-body acupuncture group [49.6% (15.7%, 56.9%) vs. 8.8%(-9.3%, 33.1%), P=0.024] than the body acupuncture group, the postoperative hospital stay[30.0(26.0, 38.5) d vs. 31.0(24.3, 43.8) d, P=0.748] and the proportion of patients discharged with a gastric tube (18.8% vs. 25.0%, P > 0.999) were not significantly different between the two groups.

Compared with body acupuncture alone, auricular acupuncture combined with body acupuncture therapy is more effective in reducing gastric drainage in patients with grade C DGE after pancreaticoduodenectomy, which may be beneficial to patients' postoperative recovery.

To investigate the differences in postoperative short-term complications and long-term prognosis of pancreatic cancer(PC) patients after total pancreatectomy(TP) and pancreaticoduodenectomy(PD).

Clinical data of PC patients who underwent TP from January 2016 to December 2021(TP group) and PD from January 2019 to December 2021(PD group) at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively collected. Patients in the PD group were divided into the pancreatic fistula(PF) high-risk PD group and the recurrence high-risk PD group according to risk factors. After propensity score matching, the differences in postoperative short-term surgical efficacy indicators(postoperative complication rate, 30 d mortality rate, length of hospital stay, etc.), long-term surgical efficacy indicators(overall survival), and quality of life were compared between the TP group and the PF high-risk PD group or the recurrence high-risk PD group.

A total of 32 patients in the TP group and 114 patients in the PD group(99 patients in the PF high-risk PD group and 15 patients in the recurrence high-risk PD group) meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled.(1)TP group and PF high-risk PD group: after propensity score matching, 29 patients in the TP group and 56 patients in the PF high-risk PD group were finally included. There was no PF in the TP group, and the rate of PF in the PF high-risk PD group was 19.64%(P=0.027).There were no statistical differences in short-term surgical efficacy indicators such as other postoperative complication rates, Clavien-Dindo grading, length of stay, ICU stay, and 30 d mortality between the two groups(all P > 0.05). At the median follow-up time of 36 months, there was no significant difference in the quality of life questionnaire-core 30(QLQ-C30) scores between the two groups(P > 0.05).(2)TP group and recurrent high-risk PD group: Since there were no statistically significant differences between the baseline data of the two groups(P > 0.05), 32 patients in the TP group and 15 patients in the recurrent high-risk PD group were both included in the analysis. There was no PF in the TP group, and the rate of PF in the recurrent high-risk PD group was 20.00%(P=0.028).The other postoperative complication rates, Clavien- Dindo grading, length of hospital stay, ICU stay, 30 d mortality and other short-term surgical efficacy indicators were also not statistically different between the two groups(all P > 0.05). By the final follow-up, the median overall survival was longer in the TP group than the recurrent high-risk PD group(37.68 months vs. 15.24 months, HR=2.551, 95% CI: 1.144-5.689, P=0.018). Multifactorial Cox regression showed that recurrent high-risk PD and preoperative obstructive jaundice were independent risk factors in the poor long-term prognosis of patients with PC.

For PC patients at high risk of PF, TP can achieve short-term surgical outcomes and long-term quality of life comparable to PD with no burden of postoperative pancreatic fistula. For patients with high-risk recurrence, TP can significantly prolong the survival of PC patients while ensuring surgical safety.