Read all the NICE guidelines for pancreatic cancer
- Explaining the 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 (staging)
- NICE guideline 4: Emotional (psychological) support
- NICE guideline 5: Managing pain
- NICE guideline 6: Managing diet and nutrition
- NICE guideline 7: Relieving a blocked bile duct or duodenum
- NICE guideline 8: Managing resectable (operable) and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer
- NICE guideline 9: Managing pancreatic cancer that can’t be removed with surgery (inoperable or unresectable cancer)
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.
5.2. People with pancreatic cancer pain should not 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.
Published: April 2025
Review date: April 2028