Regional anesthesia for chronic pain

Abstract

Sympathetic blockade has become a mainstay of therapy in the treatment of a variety of cancer-related and chronic pain conditions. The advent of ultrasound-, fl uoroscopy-, endoscopy-, and CT-guided techniques have brought this important area of pain control to the regional anesthesiologist and pain management specialist. Imaging has allowed precise placement of needles to deliver local anesthetics, steroids, and neurolytic substances to block various sympathetic ganglia. With these techniques, pain relief can potentially be achieved for a variety of cancer and noncancer pain conditions.