Nerve block in pancreatic pain.

Pain from pancreatic cancer is, in most cases, both severe and debilitating. Large doses of morphine are sometimes not tolerated or accepted by the patient, and are often ineffective. It has been claimed that "coeliac plexus block is the simplest, most effective and least hazardous" means of palliation (49, 59); we think that this is true, and that coeliac plexus block should be considered more often than it is today, and at an earlier stage. Only in rare cases should pain from pancreatitis be treated with a nerve block.