Bilateral continuous thoracic paravertebral block for chronic pancreatitis pain management

Thoracic paravertebral (TPV) block is a technique that has been shown to be effective for both the prevention and treatment of chronic pain. We report the case of a 42-year-old man with persistent chronic postoperative pain due to a pancreatic pseudocyst. Chronic pancreatitis is characterized by altered pancreatic innervation and neuronal remodeling. This phenomenon leads to chronic and neuropathic pain, which persists for years even in the absence of nociceptive stimuli. Laparoscopic surgical drainage is the method of choice for the treatment of pseudocysts of the pancreas. Despite laparoscopic gastropancreatic surgery for the removal of the pseudocyst, the patient continued to report persistent pain. We describe our experience with a continuous TPV block, which resulted in complete pain resolution.