Forty-one patients underwent open
phenol splanchnicectomy for control of
pain at the time of initial
laparotomy for what was thought to be unresectable
pancreatic carcinoma. Twenty-three patients underwent concomitant biliary and/or
intestinal bypass procedures. In no patient was
laparotomy performed only for the purpose of performing splanchnicectomy. The operative mortality was 15%. In no patient could the addition of splanchnicectomy be implicated as the cause of death. Eighty-eight per cent of patients experienced relief of
pain postoperatively. The mean duration of
pain control was 4.3 months. The mean postoperative survival was five months. No postoperative complications could be attributed to the addition of splanchnicectomy. Open
phenol splanchnicectomy is a highly successful and safe ancillary procedure for control of
pain and is recommended at the time of initial
laparotomy in patients found to have advanced intra-
abdominal neoplasm.