TABLE 1

Interventional procedures for cancer pain management

Type of intervention or procedurePrimary tumor or metastatic site indications
Nerve blocks
Peripheral nerves
 Paravertebral ........................................................Chest-wall pain after mastectomy
 Interscalene .........................................................Upper-extremity pain after surgical repair of pathologic fractures and neuropathy from brachial plexoplathy
Plexus nerves
 Celiac ...................................................................Right-upper-quadrant and epigastric pain from pancreaticobiliary malignancies
 Superior hypogastric ............................................Pelvic pain from gynecologic and urologic malignancies
 Ganglion impar ....................................................Perineal and rectal pain from anorectal and vulvar malignancies
Implantable catheters and neuromodulation
Intraspinal drug deliveryVisceral pain from abdominal malignancies, neuropathic pain for lower extremities, and intractable back pain from metastases
Spinal cord stimulation
Dorsal root ganglion stimulation
Vertebral augmentation
VertebroplastyBack pain from spine metastases and vertebral fractures
Kyphoplasty
Ablation procedures
Radiofrequency ablationPain from metastatic bone and soft-tissues sites
Cryoablation
Microwave ablation
Magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused-ultrasound surgery
Transarterial embolization ..................................Pain from hypervascular bone metastases