Analgesia for pelvic brachytherapy

Pelvic brachytherapy presents the anaesthetist with numerous challenges. Patients vary from highly distressed young adults, to the elderly with coincidental disease severe enough to preclude surgery. The painful radioactive implants remain in place for a number of days. Treatment in isolated rooms reduces radiation exposure to staff, but makes close postoperative monitoring difficult, so the analgesic technique should involve minimum risk to the patient. Although there is very little published evidence of specific analgesic techniques in this area, knowledge of these problems allows the anaesthetist to select appropriate systemic analgesics and regional blocks to provide safe and effective pain relief.