[Results of cervical chordotomy with and without rhizotomy in therapy-resistant pain in the shoulder and arm].

Herein we report on 39 patients, who were treated with the upper cervical cordotomy (C1/C2), because of intractable pain of the shoulder and arm region. 30 patients suffered from malignant tumors, 9 had a benign lesion. A simultaneous cordotomy and rhizotomy was performed in 9 tumor patients and in 2 patients with a benign lesion. The upper cervical cordotomy proofed successful in the treatment of pain of cancer bearing patients. However, our results demonstrated that the combination of cordotomy and rhizotomy did not provide further advantage than the cordotomy alone.