Minimally invasive surgical treatment for cancer pain

  In the middle and late stages of cancer, for example, if the tumor is compressing nerves or invading organs, some minimally invasive interventions can be used to release the compression or occupancy. For example, in patients with pancreatic cancer, the abdominal nerve is often compressed, causing severe pain, restricted position and very poor quality of life. Pain medication can sometimes relieve early cancer pain, but in advanced stage of pancreatic cancer, especially in restricted position and low back pain, the effect of medication is often poor. In this case, abdominal nerve release surgery can be used, that is, under the guidance of CT image, a fine needle is inserted into the abdominal nerve plexus and nerve blocking drugs are injected to block the painful sensation of nerve compression by the tumor. For example, for cancer patients with bone metastases, because tumor cells invade bone tissue and affect the stability of bones, resulting in restricted activities and easy fracture, percutaneous conoplasty can be used to improve the stability of bones on one hand and relieve pain on the other, thus maximizing the quality of life of advanced cancer patients.  1.Will cancer pain recur after surgical treatment? Does surgery have any effect on malignant tumor cells?  For patients with single bone metastasis, it may recur about six months after surgery, but at the same time, comprehensive treatment such as with radiotherapy can be carried out in order to obtain a longer effective treatment time. For patients with pancreatic cancer, the effect of surgery can last from four to six months, but in fact most of the patients may have passed away during this period, and those who survive can be operated again. The surgery itself has minimal impact on the patient, while improving the patient’s digestive function, such as improving eating and relieving constipation. Thus, the surgery aims to relieve pain, improve function and bring patients a better quality of life.  2.What types of cancer pain patients are suitable for submental drug injection system implantation, intravenous or subcutaneous drug self-administered analgesia?  PCA, which is abbreviated as intravenous or subcutaneous drug administration, means that a PCA pump is embedded in the body, containing morphine and other pain-relieving drugs, and the catheter is connected to the subcutaneous or intravenous system, and the patient presses the control device of the PCA pump when he/she feels pain, and the device will inject a certain dose of pain-relieving drugs into the body. This device is mainly used for less stable pain, i.e., flare-ups. Generally, when a patient feels pain suddenly, the time from reporting to the doctor and prescribing to the nurse injecting pain medication is still long, usually 15~30 minutes, and the patient needs to continue to endure the pain during this time; however, by embedding the pain relief device in the body, the patient can stop the pain by pressing it when he/she feels pain, which reduces the unnecessary process of enduring pain. Of course, the amount of medication to be pumped in each time is determined by the doctor through drug titration, so that the smallest amount of medication can achieve the most effective pain relief effect, and at the same time, it is not easy to develop drug resistance.  Subarachnoid drug injection system implantation is to implant the catheter of the pain relief device into the subarachnoid cavity, which is more effective and has a faster onset of pain relief. It is also more effective in certain neuropathic pains and in patients where subcutaneous or intravenous medications are not effective; another advantage is that there are relatively few side effects. This technology is used more in foreign countries, but in China, the installation and use costs are relatively high and the technical requirements for doctors are also very high, resulting in a relatively small scope of use.  3.Does the surgery have any effect on malignant tumor cells?  In fact, analgesic surgeries are all minimally invasive. In addition to the ones mentioned earlier, there is also radiofrequency ablation technology, that is, for patients with neuralgia, radiofrequency ablation technology can be used to penetrate deep into the tumor cells and surrounding nerves to eliminate the tumor while also blocking the surrounding nerves, and this technology is undoubtedly very beneficial to the treatment of the tumor itself.  In recent years, there is also particle implantation technology, which is a method to reduce pain by controlling the tumor. It can effectively solve the problem of dysfunction brought by the nerve blocking process, which can solve the pain without damaging the normal nerve function, thus effectively improving the patient’s quality of life. Patients’ survival time is often prolonged when their pain is relieved and their quality of life is improved, so it is equally beneficial for the treatment of tumors.