Current Indications of Neurolytic Blocks in Cancer Pain

The concept of palliative care for cancer pain treatment is being accepted throughout several countries. As a consequence, invasive procedures available to provide acceptable pain relief in cancer patients have been rediscussed in terms of less invasiveness, lower technology, and more care. Very few neurolytic blocks survive in the common clinical practice, among them the neurolytic celiac plexus block and the percutaneous cervical cordotomy are considered the most effective. The former has recently been reconsidered [1•] after years of debate in the literature; the later is a specific neurosurgical procedure that may provide regional anesthesia by destroying specific pathways with heat. In this article we’ll try to define which role both procedures may currently have in the management of cancer pain.