AI Article Synopsis
- Chronic pain from abdominal cancers or pancreatitis is challenging to treat, particularly due to neuropathic pain, which severely impacts quality of life.
- Current treatments like peripheral block or neurolysis often fail, offering little to no relief or only temporary results.
- A study examining the morphology and interconnections of abdominal sympathetic ganglia in nine cadavers discovered multiple ganglia and their direct connections to lumbar sympathetic ganglia, suggesting that the pain transmission system may operate differently than previously understood, potentially leading to more effective pain management strategies.
Article Abstract
Chronic pain from untreatable abdominal cancers or pancreatitis can severely decrease an individual's quality of life due to accompanying neuropathic pain, the most difficult pain mechanism to treat. Current treatment modalities focus on peripheral block or neurolysis procedures of the sympathetic ganglia in an attempt to curb the pain and improve quality of life. Reports indicated that these treatments are ineffective with patients either experiencing no relief or return the pain in a few weeks. The aim of this study was to investigate the location, macro- and microscopic morphology, and interconnections of the abdominal ganglia. The abdominal sympathetic ganglia of nine adult cadavers were investigated. The locations, morphology, interconnections, and microscopic structure were studied in 108 potential abdominal ganglia. Particular emphasis was placed on direct interconnectivity between the ganglia and histological morphology. A total of 100 ganglia were confirmed histologically to contain ganglion cells. The number and locations of most of the ganglia identified in our study does not correspond to that described by previous reports. Numerous interconnections between the different ganglia, as well as direct communications with the lumbar sympathetic chain ganglia were observed. The interconnections and presence of ganglion cells the nerves connecting the ganglia lead to the belief that the system should be considered as a unit and that pain fibers may be transmitted via alternative previously undiscovered pathways. If the pain treatments are to be reassessed with this information in mind, we believe that greater success could be achieved.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ca.23940 | DOI Listing |
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