Chronic pancreatitis is a debilitating disease. It is caused by the progressive destruction of normal pancreatic parenchyma, which is replaced by fibrous tissue causing pain in addition to pancreatic insufficiency. There is no single mechanism of pain in chronic pancreatitis. Several medical, endoscopic, and surgical treatment strategies are available to control this disease. Surgical techniques are divided into resection, drainage, and hybrid procedures. The review aimed to compare various surgical procedures used in the management of chronic pancreatitis. The ideal operation is the one that effectively and persistently relieves the pain and has the least morbidity with favorable pancreatic reserve. All the randomized control trials from inception to January 2023, which fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were extensively searched on PubMed and a systemic review was conducted comparing the surgical outcomes of the variety of operations used in chronic pancreatitis. Duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection is the common procedure done with favorable outcomes.

Perioperative arrhythmias can develop due to many reasons, rarely life-threatening, but hypokalemia plays an important role in their development. We report two cases of severe postoperative hypokalemia leading to ventricular fibrillation (VF). Case 1: A young healthy lady developed perioperative severe hypokalemia leading to repeated episodes of VF requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), direct current (DC) shock and anti-arrhythmic therapy, apart from rapid replacement of intravenous potassium. She recovered fully without any neurological or cardiac sequelae. Case 2: A 78-year-old male patient, a known case of hypertension controlled with medications developed postoperative repeated VF due to hypokalemia requiring 210 mmol of potassium chloride, antiarrhythmic therapy, DC shock, and CPR. He recovered, but complicated into acute myocardial infarction requiring therapy. Perioperative severe hypokalemia can lead to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. Early recognition and aggressive correction are essential for better outcomes.

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