Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Celiac Plexus Neurolysis for Pancreatic Cancer Pain: A Single-Institution Experience and Review of the Literature

Quy N.H. Tran, MD, Shiro Urayama, MD, and Frederick J. Meyers, MD

Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of California at Davis Medical Center, Sacramento

Pancreatic cancer is a common gastrointestinal malignancy with a poor prognosis. The primary goal for caregivers is effective palliative care, especially pain control, which is routinely managed by administration of narcotic analgesics. An alternative or adjunctive modality is celiac plexus neurolysis (CPN), a safe and effective procedure. Recent advances in the use of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) have made it an attractive guidance technique for CPN while allowing for a simultaneous tissue diagnosis. We report our experience using EUS-guided CPN and review the available literature regarding this modality.

J Support Oncol 2006;4:460–462   print e-mail full text 93 kb