[Cancer pain treatment with nerve blocks and neuroablative procedures].

The management of opioid resistant cancer pain is a significant issue for palliative medicine. Certain types of pain can be relieved effectively using nerve blocks without exacerbating and sometimes improving daily activity as long as proper patient selection and technique are employed. Continuous epidural and subarachnoid block, celiac plexus block, superior hypogastric plexus block, subarachnoid phenol block and percutaneous cervical cordotomy are common pain treatment procedures. In our pain clinic, these procedures were performed on about 20% of cancer pain patients, most of whom experienced pain relief without serious complications. Proper use of nerve blocks and neuroablative procedures can undoubtedly improve the management of cancer pain and should be a significant component of the strategy for cancer pain relief.