Diagnosis and treatment of insulinoma:a report of 120 cases / 中国普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the methods for diagnosis and treatment of insulinoma.Methods The clinical data of 120 patients with insulinoma who had been admitted to our hospital in the last 40 years were retrospectively reviewed.Results Fasting blood glucose values were less than 2.75 mmol/L in all the patients.Fasting serum insulin values in 75 patients were higher than 25 ?U/mL,and the average was (65 ?6.0)?U/mL.Before operation,tumor was detected in 2 of 60 patients by ultrasound scan,and in 10 of 50 by CT. Among 18 patients who had intra-operative B-ultrasound examination, 16 positive cases were verified by intraoperative exploration; and one case the tumor was not palpable but was found by intraoperative B-ultrasound examination.The operations included enucleation of insulinoma(70 patients),insulinoma resection and distal resection of the pancreas(44),distal resection of the pancreas(4),and biopsy(2).The low blood glucose symptoms disappeared after the first operation in 111 of the 112 patients who had benign tumor.One case with benign tumor was cured by a second operation.Twenty patients developed pancreatic fistula after tumor enacleation, of them,14 healed uneventfully after drainage,5 were cured by operation,and 1 died of peritoneal infection.Conclusions Preoperative localization of insulinomas is difficult. Intraoperative exploration and ultrasound scan are the chief methods for the localization of insulinoma.Enucleation of insulinoma should be selected for benign tumor. Resections of the pancreatic body and tail is required for large,deep or multiple tumors.