Frey Procedure

Failure of the Puestow procedure may be caused by poor drainage of the head of the pancreas. To improve drainage of the pancreatic head, the Puestow procedure may be combined with removal of part of the head of the pancreas resulting in what is called the Frey procedure.

This operation is done by coring out the diseased portion of the head of the pancreas to improve drainage of ducts in the head of the pancreas that would not otherwise be drained doing the traditional Puestow operation. This procedure can be done without increasing the risks of the Puestow procedure.