Interventional radiology in paediatric palliative care.

Paediatric palliative care is a distinct subspecialty that offers treatment to children with many types of illness, including oncological, neurological and respiratory problems. Paediatric interventional radiologists can make a useful contribution to symptom management as part of a multidisciplinary team. Interventions for pain management include local ablation or other treatment of painful lesions, image-guided nerve blocks and the insertion of devices for the delivery of analgesic drugs. Various techniques are also available for the management of ascites, pleural effusions and other symptomatic complications of the underlying disease process.