Invasive techniques in the management of cancer pain

Familiarity with potentially useful anesthetic and neurosurgical techniques is important in the management of patients who are unable to achieve a satisfactory balance between analgesia and side effects from systemic analgesic therapies. The ability to make specific recommendations is limited by the paucity of controlled data, incorporating details of pain syndromes, prior therapies, validated pain assessment, meticulous reporting of adverse effects, and longitudinal follow-up.