Relief of the pain of unresectable carcinoma of pancreas by chemical splanchnicectomy during laparotomy.

Peroperative chemical splanchnicectomy using 5% phenol in almond oil is an effective method of relieving pain in carcinoma of the pancreas. Forty-nine patients have been treated, 41 having suffered preoperative pain. Five patients died within 10 days of operation, but in no case was the splanchnicectomy a contributing factor. Of the 37 patients who had suffered pain preoperatively and then survived 10 days or more after operation, 30 (81%) experienced relief of pain and in 26 (70%) this relief persisted till death. There was no statistically significant difference in survival patterns of these splanchnicectomy patients and a comparable group of patients with pancreatic carcinoma treated in a similar way but without splanchnicectomy.