Papers of the Week

Pancreatic pseudocyst is a widely recognised local complication following acute pancreatitis. Typically occurring more than four weeks after acute pancreatitis, a pseudocyst is a mature, encapsulated collection found within the peripancreatic tissues manifesting as abdominal pain, structural compression, gastroparesis, sepsis and organ dysfunction. Therapeutic interventions include endoscopic transpapillary or transmural drainage, percutaneous catheter drainage and open surgery. We present our management of idiopathic chronic pancreatitis complicated by a pancreatic pseudocyst extending to the splenic capsule in a 38-year-old man. A trial of conservative management was sought, but later escalated to percutaneous fluoroscopic drainage. Despite a period of volume reduction of the pseudocyst, reaccumulation occurred. We describe successful surgical treatment via means of a splenocystojejunostomy and subsequent pain reduction.