Hand-assisted laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy combined with laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with early gastric cancer: Report of a case

INTRODUCTION: In a distal pancreatectomy combined with a distal gastrectomy, the splenic artery and vein must be conserved. However, it is not easy in pure laparoscopic surgery. We performed a hand-assisted laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (HALS-SPDP) combined with a laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) for the treatment of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (NET) with early gastric cancer. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 67-year-old male was hospitalized with no complaint. He was diagnosed with a pancreatic tail tumor (1.5 cm in diameter) and early gastric cancer. He had undergone an endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). The pathohistology of the dissected tissue demonstrated that the histology was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, and the depth of the gastric cancer was pT1b2 (submucosal layer ∼1000 μm). First, a pancreatectomy was performed extracorporeally under direct vision after detaching the spleen and the distal pancreas from the retroperitoneum under a hand-assisted laparoscopy. After the distal pancreatectomy, an LDG with a D1 lymphadenectomy was performed intracorporeally. The postoperative course was not eventful. Six months after surgery, an enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan revealed the patency of the splenic artery. CONCLUSION: An HALS-SPDP combined with an LDG is beneficial and safe for the patients who have a pancreatic benign or low-grade malignant tumor and gastric cancer.