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Bone metastases are very frequent in patients with cancer and usually are located in the patient's long bones and spine. Various approaches to pain relief and stability to the affected bone have been used. The aim of the study is to report our experience with a new minimally invasive percutaneous technique in patients with bone metastases located in the head, neck, and proximal femur. The technique is performed under fluoroscopic guidance through the application of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement. Our descriptive, retrospective, longitudinal case series included 15 patients who underwent femoroplasty. All patients reported pain reduction and improved mobility, with no complications observed. The femoroplasty procedure caused pain relief by stabilizing the bone through the consolidation of the microfractures because of bone metastases., (© 2012 The Authors Pain Practice © 2012 World Institute of Pain.)

Background: The use of celiac plexus block to relieve the intractable pain caused by upper abdominal malignancies is well established. However, its effects are inconsistent for many reasons, mainly because of structural anatomic distortion as a consequence for the malignancy. The splanchnic nerve blockade (SNB) seems to be a useful alternative to the celiac plexus block in upper abdominal pain relief., Materials and Methods: The pain of 109 patients with unresectable upper abdominal or lower esophageal neoplasms was managed by posterior transdiscal SNBs guided by computed tomography at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología in Mexico City from January 2004 to June 2007. The study evaluated SNB efficacy with regard to pain relief, its adverse effects/complications, and patient satisfaction., Results: Splanchnic nerve blockade efficacy with regard to pain relief was exhibited by a marked decrease in the visual analog score and in opioid consumption, with preprocedural mean values dropping from 6.1 ± 2.4 and 102.4 mg/d of morphine to 2.7 ± 2.4 and 53.3 mg/d at the first postprocedural visit, respectively. These results persisted during the 1-year follow-up period or until death. Minor adverse effects (moderate diarrhea and mild hypotension) were frequent (n = 64 and n = 47, respectively), and severe complications occurred in 1 patient with a transient paraparesis (n = 1). No procedure-related mortality was observed., Conclusions: Splanchnic nerve blockade via a transdiscal approach is a technique that provides analgesia and the alleviation of the secondary undesirable effects of analgesic drugs resulting from the decrease of morphine consumption in patients with upper abdominal malignancies. In experienced teams, the reliability of its analgesic effect is high, with a low rate of severe complications.

Neurolytic celiac plexus block is an established, well-developed procedure and the most accepted and applied in visceral pain; recognized by the WHO and the IASP, it is very good in palliative management of cancer pain in visceral of superior hemiabdomen. However, conventional techniques in celiac plexus have not been successful in patients with organomegaly and/or anatomic abnormalities, except when splanchnic nerve neurolytic blockade is used. On the other hand, conventional techniques in splanchnic nerves are highly associated with complications such as paraplegia, pneumothorax and liver or renal punction. For these reasons an alternative option has ben designed, termed transdiscal percutaneous approach of splanchnic nerves under tomographic control; this technique affords the option of improving accuracy and performance with minimum risks, particularly lung puncture and its consequences. Under this technique, 64 superior hemi-abdomen cancer patients initiated such a study (four without morphine treatment quit the study), 55% females and 45% males, visceral pain syndrome 65%, and mixed, 35%. Side effects were dyspnea 5%, hypotension 26.7%, nausea 31.7%, diarrhea 83.3% in which diarrhea means increased peristalsis showing adequate sympathetic inhibition via splanchnic nerves), vomiting 28.3%, punction-site pain 46.7%, aorta punction 6.7%, anal pleural punction 5%. All these incidents were dealt with by conservative treatment. Student t test showed that pain intensity in all measurements after procedure was different in comparison to basal pain intensity prior to procedure (p<0.05), emphasizing that at the 12th, 18th and 24th months, there was noticeable reduction in participants number with eight, five and four participants, respectively. Morphine intake at week 1, and 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months after procedure was different from basal intake prior to procedure (p<0.05) with same noticeable reduction in participant numbers at last stages. Butylhioscine intake at week 1, 1, 2, 3 and 6 months after procedure was different from basal intake prior to procedure (p<0.05). NSAIDs consumption was likely during 2 months after procedure (p<0.05). Linear regression showed that butylhioscine and morphine explained low percentage of pain intensity variance, controlling statistically that effect over pain. There were no differences in pain pathophysiology with regard to cancer type. Transdiscal percutaneous approach of splanchnic nerves guided by CAT is an alternative with minimal risks, as with lung punction, confirming that inhibiting splanchnic nerves has advantages in pain release, reducing and/or eliminating morphine consumption.