The aim of the study is to provide comparisons of the perioperative outcomes between open and laparoscopic distal pancreatic resection (DPR) for benign pancreatic disease. From 2002 and 2005, there were 28 patients (16 open, 12 laparoscopic) with a mean age of 52 who had presumptive diagnoses of benign pancreatic lesions. Pathology was neuroendocrine tumor (nine and five), mucinous cystic neoplasm (three and three), symptomatic pancreatic pseudocyst (two and two), and others (two and two). The mean operative time was 278 vs 212 min (p = 0.05), the estimated blood lost was 609 vs 193 ml (p = 0.01), and the success rate of preoperative intent for splenic preservation was 17 vs 62% (p = 0.08) in the open and laparoscopic groups, respectively. Two patients (16%) were converted to an open procedure. There was no perioperative mortality. The mean hospital stay and total perioperative morbidity were 10.6 vs 6.2 days (p = 0.001) and nine vs two events (p = 0.03) in the open and laparoscopic groups, respectively. Ten of 12 patients (83%) with laparoscopic DPR had adequate oral intake within 72 h post operatively in contrast to 2 of 16 (12.5%) patients in the open DPR group (p = 0.0001). Laparoscopic DPR is technically feasible, safe, and associated with less perioperative morbidity and a shorter hospital stay than open DPR. In centers with the appropriate expertise, laparoscopic DPR should be considered the procedure of choice for putative benign lesions of the pancreatic body and tail.