Copyright
©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 16, 2025; 13(32): 111796
Published online Nov 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i32.111796
Published online Nov 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i32.111796
Challenging diagnosis of groove pancreatitis with severe gastric outlet obstruction: A case report
Naru Kim, Huisong Lee, DaeJoon Park, Department of Surgery, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul 07985, South Korea
Author contributions: Kim N contributed to manuscript writing; Park D contributed to editing; Lee H contributed to conceptualization and supervision. All authors approved final revision of the paper.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Huisong Lee, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, No. 1071 Anyangcheon-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 07985, South Korea. huisong.lee@ewha.ac.kr
Received: July 10, 2025
Revised: August 14, 2025
Accepted: September 30, 2025
Published online: November 16, 2025
Processing time: 126 Days and 4.5 Hours
Revised: August 14, 2025
Accepted: September 30, 2025
Published online: November 16, 2025
Processing time: 126 Days and 4.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Groove pancreatitis is a rare form of chronic pancreatitis, but cases continue to be reported. Total gastric outlet obstruction, as in our case, is extremely uncommon. The anatomical complexity of the groove area makes accurate diagnosis challenging, especially when a mass involves the pancreas, duodenum, or biliary tract. Treatment options range from conservative care to surgery, and accurate differentiation from malignancy is critical. However, discordant findings across imaging, laboratory findings, and biopsy results often hinder decision-making. In select cases, aggressive surgical intervention may provide definitive diagnosis, shorten treatment duration, and reduce recurrence, as demonstrated in our patient.