St. Peter's Hospital Hepatobiliary-Pancreas & Vascular Center succeeds in complex simultaneous gallbladder and distal pancreas resection

Page information

One operation reduces adhesions and the burden on the patient↓

St. Peter's Hospital Hepatobiliary•Vascular Center,

Successful simultaneous resection of the gallbladder and distal pancreas

- Hepatobiliary-Pancreas & Vascular Center performs simultaneous laparoscopic gallbladder and distal pancreas resection in a patient in their 40s with acute cholecystitis

- Simultaneous surgery was chosen given the physical burden and risk of adhesions… advanced techniques such as spleen preservation and minimal ports were used

- Dr. Park Kwan-tae: "Building on the Hepatobiliary-Pancreas & Vascular Center's capabilities, we will put patient recovery and safety first"

▲St. Peter's Hospital Hepatobiliary-Pancreas & Vascular Center succeeds in complex simultaneous gallbladder and distal pancreas resection

St. Peter's Hospital (President Yoon, Kangjun), a general hospital focused on spine, joint and cerebro-cardiovascular care, announced that Park Kwan-tae, Director of General Surgery at its Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center, successfully performed a simultaneous laparoscopic resection of the gallbladder and distal pancreas. The case draws particular attention as it applied a demanding spleen-preserving technique.

The operation was performed on a patient in their 40s who presented with severe acute cholecystitis. While the patient was being prepared for emergency surgery, imaging additionally revealed a cystic lesion about 2 cm in size in the tail of the pancreas, which also required surgical resection. When multiple abdominal lesions accompany cholecystitis in this way, surgery for the cholecystitis is usually performed first and the additional operation carried out separately. In this case, however, the medical team weighed the severity and risk of each lesion and chose a treatment strategy of resecting the gallbladder and the tail of the pancreas simultaneously by laparoscopic surgery.

Park Kwan-tae, general surgery specialist and Director of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center at St. Peter's Hospital, said, “When two or more operations are repeated within a short period, the physical burden can grow, and in some cases intestinal adhesions develop and make further surgery even more difficult.” He added, “We therefore judged it better to treat both lesions in a single operation, and decided on the surgical approach after review by our medical team.”

This operation was performed using the spleen-preserving approach, considered one of the most difficult in pancreatic resection. Distal pancreatectomy is a highly demanding operation that requires precise handling of the blood vessels around the pancreas and the structures of adjacent organs, and the spleen-preserving technique in particular is known to require a high level of skill and teamwork. The medical team carried out the operation by preserving the splenic vessels precisely while safely resecting the pancreatic lesion.

In addition, the surgical route was configured efficiently to minimize the placement and use of ports (the tube channels used in laparoscopic surgery), focusing on reducing unnecessary incisions and easing the patient's recovery burden. The patient was discharged two days after surgery and has since shown a stable recovery with no complications.

▲(left) Dr. Park, Kwan Tae, General Surgery, St. Peter's Hospital

Park Kwan-tae, the general surgery specialist who heads the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center at St. Peter's Hospital, is an authority in vascular and transplant surgery with more than 20 years of clinical experience in Korea and abroad. He has performed over 10,000 procedures in arteriovenous fistula creation, fistula revision and vascular intervention, and has extensive experience across abdominal surgery, including laparoscopic hepatobiliary-pancreatic operations.

Since joining St. Peter's Hospital last November, Director Park Kwan-tae has led the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center and taken the lead in advancing the hospital's general surgery and abdominal surgery capabilities. He has recently achieved a series of highly demanding cases, including a cholecystectomy performed together with a successful intrahepatic hepaticojejunostomy to correct a biliary anomaly.

Director Park Kwan-tae also leads the way in volunteer work at home and abroad on the strength of his medical expertise. He has received the Prime Minister's Award for overseas volunteer service and a Presidential Commendation under the public nomination awards, and his work was featured in 2020 on the KBS1 documentary program ‘Human Theater’. Over the Lunar New Year holiday this February he again took part in medical volunteer work in Tanzania, continuing medical support for local residents.

Park Kwan-tae, Director of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center at St. Peter's Hospital, said, “It is meaningful that we successfully completed a highly demanding simultaneous operation decided upon in light of the patient's condition,” adding, “Building on the clinical capabilities of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center, we will continue to provide precise, safe medical care that puts patient recovery and safety first.”