Minimally invasive techniques in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis

Open necrosectomy, the standard surgical treatment of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN), presents a high rate of postoperative complications and an associated mortality of 20-60%. In the last decade various minimally invasive approaches (MIA) have been proposed for the treatment of IPN and the results seem to improve on those reported with open necrosectomy. These MIA include: percutaneous, retroperitoneal, endoscopic (endoluminal) and laparoscopic (transperitoneal). The adoption of the step-up approach in the management of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) facilitates the implementation of MIA as the surgical treatment of choice in most cases. Since MIA require the expertise of radiologists, endoscopists and surgeons, patients suffering SAP should be treated by multidisciplinary teams in referral centers. We describe the MIA currently available and discuss their advantages, disadvantages, and results.