Treatment
A pharmacological (drug-based) method of achieving pain relief is through the use of opioid medications. Opioids (e.g. codeine, morphine, and fentanyl) activate opioid receptors in the spine that act to inhibit pain signals. These drugs are often administered to cancer patients orally or intravenously to reduce pain.
An alternative to opioids are spinal nerve (or clusters of these, e.g. celiac plexus) injections, which are injections of pain-blocking compounds into the space near the affected nerves. The anesthetics used can block the pain signals from going to the brain. The injections can be given at the site of the spinal nerves that are controlling the area of the body affected by tumors or their treatment. A variation on this treatment is a catheter (or intrathecal pump) inserted into the epidural space, which will automatically deliver the anesthetics over time. When treating cancer patients , it is our goal at Comprehensive Pain Management Partners to create a customized pain management program that provides effective pain relief. This may include a combination of medications and/or procedures to achieve that goal.
