Questions about pain?
If you have any questions about pain and how to manage it, speak to your doctors of nurse.
You can also speak to our specialist nurses on our free Support Line.
Read all the NICE guidelines for pancreatic cancer
- NICE guidelines for diagnosing and managing pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 1: Diagnosing pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 2: Specialist pancreatic multidisciplinary teams
- NICE guideline 3: Working out how far pancreatic cancer has spread
- NICE guideline 4: Emotional (psychological) support for pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 5: Managing pain and pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 6: Managing diet and pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 7: Relieving a bile duct or duodenum blocked by pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 8: Managing resectable (operable) and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 9: Managing pancreatic cancer that can’t be removed with surgery
5.1 A treatment called a coeliac plexus nerve block to manage pain should be considered if you:
- have pain that isn’t controlled or
- have a lot of side effects from opioid painkillers or
- need increasing doses of painkillers.
Read more about pain and pancreatic cancer.
5.2 People with pancreatic cancer pain shouldn’t be offered a treatment called thoracic splanchnicectomy.
This treats pain by cutting the nerves that send pain messages from the pancreas to the brain, as they pass through the chest. It has been used in the past to treat pancreatic cancer pain, but there is not much evidence that it helps.
Speak to our nurses
Published: August 2018
Review date: August 2023