REGIONAL ANESTHESIA FOR PAIN CONTROL IN PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY PATIENTS

Abstract

Around 70% of all childhood cancer patients suffer from severe pain. This pain originates either from metastasizing tumor cells or as the outcome of therapy meant to deal with tumor. If managed inadequately, such pain can lead to many hazardous sequelae. However, there are extreme cases when pain does not respond to any treatment. For such cases, regional anaesthesia or nerve blocks are utilized as the utmost pain control measure. Blocks are used to treat pain in patients who no longer respond to conventional opioid-based treatment or whose worsened condition makes it impossible to receive any other therapy. The data on the use of nerve blocks for such cases in children population is limited. This review discusses the regional anesthesia techniques used in pediatric oncology patients. It was concluded that nerve blocks, although rarely performed, are a safe and efficient way of pain control in pediatric oncology patients. The major settings for block performance are postoperative pain control and palliative care. We observed that block indication and its outcomes depend on unique health circumstances in which they should be performed. Patients with similar diagnoses had differing outcomes while receiving the same block treatment.