Groove pancreatitis (GP) is a rare type of chronic pancreatitis, which primarily affects the groove area of the pancreatic head. Surgery is considered as the ultimate method for GP if the symptoms are not improved by conservative or endoscopic treatments, and the Whipple technique is the common choice at present. The present study introduces a novel surgical procedure for GP, namely groove resection of pancreatic head (GRPH), in a 56-year-old male patient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on GRPH for the surgical treatment of GP. This patient was diagnosed with typical GP without any evidence of malignancy, based on imaging studies and gastrointestinal endoscopy, and was treated with GRPH. Briefly, only the groove area of the pancreatic head was resected, while the duodenum, the main pancreatic duct and the majority of the pancreatic head were preserved. A complete relief of abdominal pain and a weight gain were achieved 2 months after surgery. Endoscopic examination indicated marked improvement of the duodenal lesions. In conclusion, GRPH is a less invasive surgical procedure for GP compared with other surgical procedures and may be an alternative for the surgical treatment of GP without severe lesions or stenosis of the duodenum.
Keywords: groove pancreatitis; groove resection; pancreas.