The Whipple

Ah, the Whipple.  Such a cute name, such an extensive procedure.  The Whipple procedure, aka, pancreaticoduodenectomy, pancreatoduodenectomy, or Kausch-Whipple procedure involves mainly the pancreas, duodenum (1st part of the small intestine) and perhaps other structures.  It is an operation to remove cancerous tumors on the head of the pancreas or tumors on the vessels or the ducts near the pancreas.

While the procedure is coined after Dr. Whipple and his extensive research and modifications, Dr. Alessandro Codivilla, an Italian surgeon described the surgery prior to Dr. Whipple, as well as Dr. Walther Kausch, a German surgeon, who performed a resection for perampullary cancer.  (FYI: The biggest improvement to the pancreaticoduodenectomy is the use of silk ties instead of catgut for the procedure.)

Simply stating, a pancreaticoduodenectomy, as the name suggests is the removal (-ectomy) of the pancreas (pancreatico-) and duodenum (-duode-).  This is because the head of the pancreas and the duodenum share a blood supply.  If the pancreas were removed, blood flow to the duodenum would be compromised.  HOWEVER, things are not as they seem.  Whipples these days consist of a removal not only the head of the pancreas and the duodenum, but also the lower half of the stomach, part of the jejunum, gallbladder, common bile duct and lymph nodes in the area.  Once all these structures are cut out, the remaining part of the pancreas, common bile duct and stomach are all attached to the jejunum.

So, all this crazy talk of removing a part of your body has probably got you thinking, who is Dr. Whipple?  Well...he is the son of missionaries, born in Urmia, Persia on September 2, 1881.  Skip a few years, and he's graduated from Princeton University and received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1908.  (I'm glad to know that even Dr. Whipple wasn't 18 when he graduated from medical school, he was older.)  He was a professor of surgery at Columbia University when he started work on the pancreatoduodenectomy in 1935, refining the procedure further in 1940.

Dr. Whipple became a trustee of Princeton University and a president of the American College of Physicians and Surgeons.  He died on April 6, 1963.

Other eponyms for Dr. Whipple:

Whipple's Triad (Criteria for Insulinomas)

Symptoms probably caused by hypoglycemia

Low plasma glucose

Symptoms relieved when glucose is given

Again, a shout out to wikipedia!