Monitoring of celiac plexus block in chronic pancreatitis

Pharmacological, percutaneous celiac plexus blockade is often inefficient in the treatment of pain in chronic pancreatitis. Lack of efficiency could be due to incomplete denervation of the plexus; however, a method for measuring the completeness of celiac plexus blockade is not yet available. We have, therefore, monitored the physiological completeness of pharmacological percutaneous celiac blockade with 40 ml 25% ethanol by measuring the effect of posture on heart rate, blood pressure, hepato-splanchnic vascular resistance, and pancreatic hormone concentrations before and after celiac plexus block in 6 patients with chronic pancreatitis. Blood pressure decreased and heart rate increased after the block (P less than 0.025), whereas no significant change was found in hepato-splanchnic vascular resistance nor in the change of these parameters during transition from the supine to standing position. Pancreatic hormones (C-peptide, free insulin, glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide and somatostatin) did not change in response to standing, either before or after the block. The cardiovascular variables were normalized the day after the block, and all the patients were in their habitual state regarding pain after 1 week. In conclusion, pancreatic hormone concentrations in response to standing are not useful for monitoring celiac plexus block, whereas heart rate, blood pressure and hepato-splanchnic blood flow may yield useful information. From such measurements it was concluded that permanent denervation of the celiac plexus was not achieved in our patients after injection of 40 ml 25% ethanol.