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Endoscopy 2003; 35(8): S49-S53
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-41530
Endoscopic Ultrasonography
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

EUS-guided Celiac Plexus Neurolysis – Technique and Indication

N.  Schmulewitz1 , R.  Hawes1
  • 1Medical University of South Carolina, Digestive Disease Center, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Charleston, South Carolina
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Publication History

Publication Date:
20 August 2003 (online)

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Introduction

Celiac plexus blockade (CPB) has been used in the management of pancreatic pain for the better part of a century. Until very recently, access to the celiac ganglia had been restricted to the surgeon, anesthesiologist and the radiologist. Advances in endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and, most specifically, experience with fine-needle aspiration have allowed EUS-guided CPB to become a viable alternative to the more cumbersome techniques that preceded it. Although the precise role of CPB in patients with chronic upper abdominal pain stills needs to be defined, EUS promises to be a major factor in the future of this form of treatment.

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R. H. Hawes, M.D. 

Division of Gastroenterology · Medical University of South Carolina

171 Ashley Avenue, Charleston · South Carolina 29425–2220

Phone: +803–792–6864

Fax: +803–792–4184 ·

Email: HawesR@musc.edu