Background: Pancreatic pseudocysts in children are uncommon. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical course, image findings (with emphasis on sonograms), and outcome of 12 patients with pancreatic pseudocysts.
Methods: From January 1986 to May 2000, 12 patients with a diagnosis of pancreatic pseudocysts were encountered in our hospital. There were 8 males and 4 females with ages ranging from 3 to 18 years.
Results: The etiology was blunt abdominal trauma in all 12 cases. The cysts were detected from 3 to 57 days after injury, and the sizes ranged from 0.6 to 16 cm. Six patients received surgical treatment. External drainage was performed in 3 cases, subtotal pancreatectomy in 1, cystogastrostomy in 2. Initial serum amylase level correlated with neither the time to normalization (r = 0.354, p = 0.268), cystic appearance after trauma (r = 0.029, p = 0.933), nor resolution (r = 0.322, p = 0.309). Sonographic follow-up revealed that the disappearance of cysts was noted from 11 days to 10 months following injury. The size of the pseudocysts correlated with neither the time of detection (r = 0.284, p = 0.371) nor disappearance (r = -0.175, p = 0.586).
Conclusion: Serial sonogram examinations play an important role in monitoring the progress of pancreatic pseudocysts, which may develop even 57 days after injury. The size of pseudocysts correlated with neither the times of detection nor disappearance, and the initial serum amylase level correlated with neither the time to normalization nor cystic appearance after trauma.