Re : Endo Coeliac Plexus Block

[Guest guest]

No nerve block, regardless of how it's delivered, comes with a

guarantee of longecity.

The early statistics regarding the EUS blocks out of Indiana

indicated a 70% sucess rate of some pain reduction for an average

of fourteen weeks.

As I have already undergone thirteen sich blocks since 1996,

I can attest to the fact that results vary from person to person

and block to block. But published studies have revealed that when

they work, they offer longer relief than through the blocks performed

my anesthesiologist/pain management specialists.

The first one that I underwent didn't work. So I went for another

one a few weeks later. That one gave about three months of

substantially lowered pain.

The succeeding blocks lasted from six months to two full years.

During those periods, my RUQ pain was reduced to the point where

I no longer needed heavy narcotic analgesics. And I have not needed

hospital pain management. I have, at times, needed some Tylenol

and/or Ultram.

Not one doctor has even voice any concern about these EUS procedures

causing any threat to possible future surgery as all they entail

is the injection of some Bupivicaine into the nerve bundles behind the

stomach.

-Ellen in New York

Finding a qualified GI endoscopist to perform them is a bit difficult.

There aren't many who are trained to do them. I've been very

fortunate to live near a hospital in New York where it has been

available for several years. I guess you can say that I'm their

poster child.

[Guest guest]

>Ellen, Thank you for the nice comments. I am cautiously optomistic

about this form of treatment. Talked to the PA that works with/for my

Dr. and she laid some more of my doubts aside.

So nice to hear positive comments !

Thanks, Cyndi