Background: Surgical resection is the only potentially curative modality for PDAC. However, even after a successful surgical resection outcomes are poor due to both local and distant disease recurrence. Patients with early recurrence likely derive no benefit from surgery and could be considered for a non-surgical approach as initial therapy. Since the incidence of recurrent/metastatic disease at first post-operative staging scan is not well documented, our aim was to determine this incidence. Methods: This IRB-approved analysis identified all pts diagnosed with resectable PDAC that underwent surgery with intent to cure at the University of Miami/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center between 2010 and 2012. Patients with imaging before and within 6 months after surgery were included. All post-operative CT scans performed within 3 months after surgery were reviewed for the presence of recurrent and/or metastatic disease. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Data from105 pts were analyzed. Mean age was 61, 63% were male, 91% had adenocarcinoma, 84% had disease in the head of the pancreas. 11 out of 85 (13%) pts had recurrent/metastatic disease detected on first post-operative CT scan; 64% stage IIB and 73% had positive lymph nodes. 54 out of 105 (51%) had disease progression. 60% had local recurrence, 40% had distant metastasis. The mean time from preoperative CT scan to surgery was 35 days. Patients with early and late recurrence had similar OS from diagnosis (median 27.7 and 27.1 months, respectively) but worse than those with no disease recurrence (median not reached, OS rate 78% at 36 months). Conclusions: The relatively high incidence (13%) of early recurrence in this retrospective cohort suggests that further studies aimed at improving patient selection for surgery are warranted and provides a strong rationale for the use of neoadjuvant therapy to select patients with early disease progression who would not have benefitted from surgery.