Review Article

Splanchnicectomy for Pancreatic Cancer Pain

Table 4

Results of reported thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy.

AuthorOperation time (min)ComplicationsAssessment of painPain scores before/after surgeryPatients free of opioids (%)

Worsey et al. [15]80NRNRPain free (after 1 month)NR

Cuschieri et al. [20]NRNoneNRNRNR

Lin et al. [21]NRTransient hypotension ( )NRNR85.7

Takahashi et al. [22]87Transient hypotension ( )NRNR100

Lonroth et al. [23]<60Pneumonia ( ), transient intercostal neuralgia ( )Visual analog scale8.6/1.8 (immediately after)/3.7 (after 3 months)33 (after 3 months)

Le Pimpec Barthes et al. [24]NRIntermittent diarrhea ( )NRNR80

Ihse et al. [25]NRBleeding ( )Visual analog scale8/3 (after 1 week)>50

Giraudo et al. [26]Unilateral, 63; bilateral, 86Pneumothorax ( ), cholangitis ( )NRNR83.3 (after mean 4 months)

Pietrabissa et al. [27]25 ± 9Pneumothorax ( ), transient intercostal neuralgia (common)Visual analog scale7.4 ± 1.7/0.6 ± 1.0 (after 1 day)95 (after 3 months)

Saenz et al. [28]Unilateral, 58 ± 22; bilateral, 93.5 ± 15.6Intercostal neuralgia ( ), persistent plural effusion ( ), pneumothorax ( )Visual analog scale8.5/3 (after 30 day)84 (after 4 days)

Leksowski [29]NRTransient intercostal neuralgia ( )Numeric rating scaleWorst pain; 8.54/
1.77 (after 7 days)/
1.59 (1 month)/
1.85 (2 months)/
2.00 (3 months)/
1.93 (4 months)/
2.25 (5 months)/
2.80 (6 months)
100 (until death)

Krishna et al. [6]NRNRNumeric rating scaleWorst pain; 9/3 (after 3 days)0 (after 2 weeks)

Lang-Lazdunski et al. [30]<60NoneVisual analog scaleNR/5 (after 6 weeks)0 (after 6 weeks)

Stefaniak et al. [31]NRTransient intercostal neuralgia ( )Visual analog scaleEffect size; 11.27 (after 2 and 8 weeks)46.1% down of opioid consumption (after 8 weeks)

Kang et al. [32]95NoneNumeric rating scale8.52 ± 1.08/1.71 ± 1.10 (after 7 days)52.4 ( after 7 days)

Katri et al. [33]31 ± 12Intercostal neuralgia ( ), transient pleural effusion ( )Visual analog scale8.08 ± 1/0.58 ± 0.79 (1 day)/1.08 ± 0.8 (after 1 month)91.7

Johnson et al. [4]NRWound infection ( ), intraoperative bleeding from diaphragm ( )Brief pain, inventory pain scoreWorst pain; 6.11 ± 3.05/5.07 ± 2.76 (after 2 weeks)/5.00 ± 3.03 (2 months)25 (after 2 months)

Prasad et al. [34]NRNRVisual analog scale8/2 (immediate postoperative period)NR

Śmigielski et al. [35]32 ± 18Pneumothorax ( )Visual analog scale5.66/2.33 (after 7 days)/1.78(30 days)NR

Tavassoli et al. [36]NRPneumothorax ( )Visual analog scale8.2 ± 1.2/1.4 ± 1 (after 1 day)/1.7 ± 1.5 (1 week)/2.9 ± 1.2 (1 month)/4 ± 0.9 (3 months)75