Dear Colleagues,

we warmly invite you to participate in this international survey, endorsed by the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA). The purpose of this project is to assess current technical and perioperative strategies used to prevent postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) following pancreatoduodenectomy (PD).

Despite continuous advances in pancreatic surgery, POPF remains a major cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Multiple techniques and adjunctive measures have been proposed to mitigate this risk — including variations in pancreatic anastomosis, stent use, antibiotic prophylaxis, and somatostatin analogues. However, practices differ widely, and high-level evidence remains limited.

This survey aims to capture these variations, identify areas of consensus and controversy, and lay the foundation for future collaborative research.

Your participation is anonymous, and completing the survey will take approximately 10 minutes. The results will be shared with the E-AHPBA community and may serve as a basis for subsequent prospective trials.

We sincerely appreciate your valuable time and expertise.

With kind regards,
Dr. Michael Hoffmann – University Hospital Augsburg, Germany
Dr. David Pinto – University Hospital Augsburg, Germany
Prof. Katharina Beyer – University Hospital Augsburg, Germany
Prof. Matthias Anthuber (emeritus) – University Hospital Augsburg, Germany