Page 68 - Read Online

Zavridis et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2017;3:60-4 Journal of
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2017.04
Cancer Metastasis and Treatment

www.jcmtjournal.com
Original Article Open Access

Percutaneous, computed tomography

guided neurolysis using continuous

radiofrequency for pain reduction in

oncologic patients

Periklis Zavridis , Maria Tsitskari , Argyro Mazioti , Dimitrios Filippiadis 3
3
2
1
1 Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Management, American Medical Center, Strovolos 2054, Nicosia, Cyprus.
2 Department of Interventional Radiology, Apollonion Private Hospital, Strovolos 2054, Nicosia, Cyprus.
3 2nd Radiology Department, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, 12462 Athens, Greece.
Correspondence to: Prof. Dimitrios Filippiadis, 2nd Radiology Department, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, Medical School, National
and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 1 Rimini Str., 12462 Athens, Greece. E-mail: dfilippiadis@yahoo.gr
How to cite this article: Zavridis P, Tsitskari M, Mazioti A, Filippiadis D. Percutaneous, computed tomography guided neurolysis using continuous
radiofrequency for pain reduction in oncologic patients. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2017;3:60-4.
ABSTRACT
Article history: Aim: This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of percutaneous computed tomography
Received: 07-01-2017 (CT)-guided neurolysis using continuous radiofrequency for pain reduction in oncologic
Accepted: 02-03-2017 patients. Methods: Over the course of 16 months, 22 patients underwent radiofrequency
Published: 27-03-2017 neurolysis as palliative therapy for pain reduction in celiac and splachnic plexus (n = 9),
thoracic (n = 1), lumbar (n = 2) and superior hypogastric plexus (n = 5), as well as stellate
Key words: ganglion (n = 5). Pain levels before treatment, one week after treatment, and at the last
Pain, follow-up (average follow-up 6 months) were compared by means of a Numeric Visual
oncology, Scale (NVS) questionnaire and a Brief Pain Inventory (Short Form) questionnaire. Results:
computed tomography, Median procedure time was 44 min. Median number of CT scans, performed to control
neurolysis, correct positioning of the cannula and precise electrode placement, was 8. Pain scores
continuous radiofrequency
of questionnaires prior to treatment (mean value 9.50 NVS units, range 8-10 NVS units)
and post treatment (mean value 3.27 NVS units, range 2-6 NVS units) showed a mean
decrease of 6.23 NVS units in terms of pain reduction and life quality improvement (P <
0.05). Overall mobility improved in 18/18 (100%) patients. No complication was observed.
Conclusion: This study concludes that CT-guided neurolysis by means of continuous
radiofrequency ablation is a safe and efficient technique for pain palliation in oncologic
patients.

INTRODUCTION time of diagnosis, and nearly 80% of advanced stage
cancer patients report moderate to severe pain.
[1]
Approximately half of cancer patients report pain at the Cancer pain can be classified as nociceptive (caused

Quick Response Code:
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work
non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

For reprints contact: service@oaepublish.com

60 © 2017 OAE Publishing Inc. www.oaepublish.com