Distal pancreatectomy (DP) is the standard procedure for benign lesions of the pancreatic body or tail. DP increases the life expectancy of the patients suffering from benign (potentially malignant) lesions as well as chronic pancreatitis (CP). It is allied with low mortality rates, however high morbidities , especially pancreatic leak.
Also, postoperative new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) is an alarm (5%-9% in patients with apparently normal pancreatic parenchyma and 25%-50% in patients undergoing DP for CP). But until other procedures are proven to be safer, DP cannot be circumvented. NODM is a frequently occurring complication affecting the quality of life, and its incidence depends on the pre-existing disease.
