Enucleation of a large true cyst in the head of pancreas instead of Whipple procedure in an 8-year old boy: a case report

Simple cysts of pancreas are smaller than complex ones and are more likely to be located at the distal tail of the pancreas. Simple cysts are often asymptomatic and can be managed conservatively by observation. There seems to be few clinical trials to suggest the best treatments method for large symptomatic cysts of pancreas located at the head of the organ.

In this report, we describe an eight-year old boy with a large symptomatic true cyst at the head of the pancreas who was successfully treated by enucleation of the cyst, instead of the Whipple's procedure, without any ensuing complications.

Regarding the rarity of simple cysts in the pancreas, lack of studies to compare different surgical procedures and suggest the best methods to treat them and the considerable morbidity and even mortality of major surgeries (e.g Whipple's procedure) enucleation of these cysts seem to be appropriate for treating them with no early or late complications. More studies are needed to warrant the results of this report.