Steroid celiac plexus block for chronic pancreatitis: results in 16 cases.

Sixteen cases in which celiac plexus block with depot steroid was used to treat chronic pancreatitis pain were reviewed. Only 4 of 16 patients reported pain relief with the procedure. Of the 12 patients who did not obtain relief, narcotic dependence was present in 11 of 12. No patients in the "relief" group were narcotic dependent. Prior pancreatic surgery was present in 9 of the 12 patients without relief and in 1 of 4 patients with relief. It is postulated that refractory chronic pancreatitis pain may be an extreme form of what has been termed "abnormal illness behavior." Furthermore, these results underscore the poor results experienced using neural blockade for the relief of chronic pain when narcotic dependence is present.