The surgical team of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program at the Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Center (SQCCCRC) managed to perform the first laparoscopic tumor resection in a complex area between the pancreas, duodenum, and bile duct successfully.  This is another addition to the series of complex surgical services and advanced treatments provided by SQCCCRC to cancer patients in the Sultanate of Oman. 

The operation is known as “Whipple procedure”, during which the tumor is resected along with the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, and part of the bile duct. After performing the Whipple procedure, the remaining organs reconnects to allow patient to digest food normally after surgery.

This procedure is a complex surgical procedure that carries potential risks and represents a major surgical challenge. Therefore, it requires a specialized medical team, a high level of experience and competence in surgery and minimally invasive surgery, and advanced medical supports to ensure patient safety during and after the operation. 

Dr. Abdallah bin Yahya Al-Farai, Consultant Surgical Oncologist, said: “We performed the first totally laparoscopic Whipple operation on a patient who is less than 60 years old and had a tumor in the area between pancreas, duodenum, and bile duct. Despite the difficulty of the operation, the team was able to complete it successfully without any complications.”

Dr. Al Farai added, the patient’s recovery after the operation was smooth and discharged home in less than two weeks. 

The Whipple procedure is one of the major operations that are performed either through open or minimally invasive surgery in some specialized medical centers around the world, and it usually takes between four to eight hours.

Performing pancreatoduodenectomy using Laparoscopic is a minimally invasive procedure that it requires making a number of small incisions in the abdomen to insert the surgical instruments and extract the tumor. This method offers several advantages for patient, such as reducing pain, surgical scars, and reduce the level of complications associated with the operation compared to open surgery. In addition, it cutdown patient’s recovery period. 

The surgical team of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program expressed their happiness at presenting this surgical option (minimally invasive) to cancer patients in the Sultanate, for those whose health condition allows it. This is added to the many surgical interventions that the team performs to resect tumors laparoscopically, including laparoscopic resection of the tail of the pancreas. 

This comes within the framework of the Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Center’s ongoing efforts to introduce the latest and safest therapeutic technologies, with the aim of reducing potential risks of operations, ensuring patient safety, and improving the quality of clinical care provided to them.