Celiac Plexus Block

This pro­ce­dure is per­formed to diag­nose and reduce abdom­i­nal pain caused by con­di­tions such as can­cer or pan­cre­ati­tis. An injec­tion is used to block the nerves serv­ing the abdomen. An intra­venous (IV) line may be used to admin­is­ter med­ica­tion to relax the patient. After numb­ing the skin of the back with a local anes­thet­ic, the physi­cian slides one or two nee­dles through the body to the celi­ac plexus nerves. The physi­cian uses X‑ray or CT scan guid­ance to posi­tion the nee­dles cor­rect­ly. Before inject­ing med­ica­tion, the physi­cian may inject a dye solu­tion to con­firm that the nee­dles are cor­rect­ly posi­tioned. Anes­thet­ic med­i­cine is inject­ed around the nerves to block pain sig­nals from reach­ing the brain. The ini­tial injec­tion may be a test injec­tion. If pain relief fol­lows, a per­ma­nent block injec­tion may be admin­is­tered. The nee­dles are removed. Many patients feel imme­di­ate pain relief from this procedure.

Click here to review an illus­tra­tion of Celi­ac Plexus Block.
(Infor­ma­tion obtained from www​.viewmed​ica​.com 2012 Swarm Interactive).