Editorial: Neurolysis for pancreatic cancer pain: same song, different verse?

Abstract

Since Kappis first performed percutaneous neurolysis in 1914, investigators have employed innumerable technical variations in an effort to enhance the efficacy. Similar efforts have been underway by endosonographers since Wiersema performed the first endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided celiac plexus neurolysis in 1996. Although such efforts are important, the availability of multiple procedural options is indicative of the controversy and lack of meaningful progress. If one particular method was clearly superior, the other techniques would have become obsolete. Sakamoto et al. present a new method of EUS-guided neurolysis in an attempt to improve the outcomes. Although their data are promising, we eagerly await rigorously designed studies that may validate their findings.