{
  "abstract": "Background Groove pancreatitis (GP) is a rare form of chronic pancreatitis that affects the ‘groove’ between the pancreatic head, duodenum, and common bile duct. This study aims to comprehensively explore the clinical aspects, management strategies, and outcomes related to GP.Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and EMBASE up to 28 March 2025. All analyses employed DerSimonian-Laird random-effects models with proportions pooled on the logit scale using small continuity corrections where appropriate. Per-study denominators were defined as the total number of patients with complete, incomplete, or failure outcomes reported for each treatment arm. Publication bias was assessed via funnel plots.Results A total of 24 studies comprising 562 patients were analysed, with most of the studies being retrospective cohort studies. The patient-weighted mean age across all studies was 50.6 years. There was a strong male predominance with 393/466 (84.3%) male patients and 73/466 (15.7%) female patients. Diagnosis of GP was carried out predominantly via imaging-only approaches (41.7%), followed by combined imaging and endoscopy (29.2%), imaging combined with clinical assessment (12.5%), and histopathology (12.5%). Abdominal pain (443/480; 92.3%) was the most frequently reported presenting symptom, followed by weight loss (344,488; 70.5%), nausea/vomiting (198/420; 47.1%), acute pancreatitis (154/231; 66.7%), jaundice (66/484; 13.6%), steatorrhea (69/390; 17.7%), and diabetes mellitus (54/346; 15.6%). Non-surgical management achieved complete success in 131/166 patients (78.9%), incomplete success in 21/166 patients (12.7%), and failure in 14/166 patients (8.4%), while surgical management demonstrated complete success in 197/239 patients (82.4%), incomplete success in 29/239 patients (12.1%), and failure in 13/239 patients (5.4%) ( IDDF2026-ABS-0329 Figure 1. Treatment outcomes comparing non-surgical n166 versus surgical n239 management approaches). Direct comparison using studies that reported outcomes for both treatment modalities showed no statistically significant difference in complete success rates between surgical and non-surgical approaches. The risk ratio for complete success (surgery versus non-surgical) was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.73–1.36), indicating equivalent efficacy between treatment strategies (IDDF2026-ABS-0329 Figure 2. Forest plot showing risk ratios for surgical versus non-surgical treatment success with 95% confidence intervals).Conclusions GP is a rare entity that commonly affects middle-aged males. There appears to be no significant difference between surgical and non-surgical approaches with regard to complete disease resolution.Abstract IDDF2026-ABS-0329 Figure 1Abstract IDDF2026-ABS-0329 Figure 2",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom"
      ],
      "name": "Arkadeep Dhali"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Barasat Government Medical College and Hospital, India"
      ],
      "name": "Jyotirmoy Biswas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "CMH Multan Institute of Medical Sciences, Pakistan"
      ],
      "name": "Ali Shan Hafiz"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India"
      ],
      "name": "Rick Maity"
    }
  ],
  "title": "IDDF2026-ABS-0329 Surgical versus conservative management of groove pancreatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis",
  "uid": "299d7f30-4a21-50cd-9158-fff2b4e130f8"
}