UI - 000076

AU - Busch EH

AU - Atchison SR

TI - Steroid celiac plexus block for chronic pancreatitis: results in 16 cases

AB - Sixteen cases in which celiac plexus block with depot steroid was used to treat chronic pancreatitis

pain were reviewed. Only 4 of 16 patients reported pain relief with the procedure. Of the 12 patients who

did not obtain relief, narcotic dependence was present in 11 of 12. No patients in the "relief" group were

narcotic dependent. Prior pancreatic surgery was present in 9 of the 12 patients without relief and in 1 of 4

patients with relief. It is postulated that refractory chronic pancreatitis pain may be an extreme form of what

has been termed "abnormal illness behavior." Furthermore, these results underscore the poor results

experienced using neural blockade for the relief of chronic pain when narcotic dependence is present

SO - Journal of Clinical Anesthesia 1989;1:431-43