Dorsal Pancreatic Artery—a Study of Its Detailed Anatomy for Safe Pancreaticoduodenectomy

Early division of the dorsal pancreatic artery (DPA) or its branches to the uncinate process during pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in addition to early division of the gastroduodenal artery and inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery should be performed to reduce blood loss by completely avoiding venous congestion. However, the significance of early division of DPA or its branches to the uncinate process has not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the anatomy of DPA and its branches to the uncinate process using the currently available high-resolution dynamic computed tomography (CT) as the first step to investigate the significance of DPA in the artery-first approach during PD. Preoperative dynamic thin-slice CT data of 160 consecutive patients who underwent hepato–pancreato–biliary surgery were examined focusing on the anatomy of DPA and its branches to the uncinate process. DPA was recognized in 103 patients (64%); it originated from the celiac axis or its branches in 70 patients and from the superior mesenteric artery or its branches in 34 patients. The branches to the uncinate process were visualized in 82 patients (80% of those with DPA), with diameters of 0.5–1.5 mm in approximately 80% of the 82 patients irrespective of DPA origin. DPA branches to the uncinate process were recognized using high-resolution CT in approximately half of the patients.