Splanchnicectomy for Pancreatic Cancer Pain

Abstract

Persistent pain is a serious problem that often contributes to a poor quality of life in pancreatic cancer patients. Medical management by opioid analgesics is often accompanied by side effects and incomplete pain relief. A celiac plexus block is a simple treatment which relieves pain, but the procedure demands a certain degree of proficiency and the duration of the effects obtained can be rather limited. Transhiatal bilateral splanchnicectomy achieves a certain denervation of splanchnic nerves, but it requires a laparotomy. Unilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy is a minimally invasive procedure to cause definite denervation. Bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy is recommended for unsatisfactory cases or recurrent pain occurring after the initial unilateral splanchnicectomy. It is important to select the most suitable treatment depending on patients’ actual medical state and the predicted outcomes.