(Fairfax, VA, Wednesday, June 8, 2022) – Up to 80 percent of women experience persistent pain after a mastectomy or lumpectomy for breast cancer treatment. For these women, new evidence is pointing to a new treatment option for their pain. A minimally invasive, image-guided procedure that freezes the nerve transmitting the pain is achieving strong results, according to new research to be presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting.
J. David Prologo, MD, FSIR, Associate Professor in the Division of Interventional Radiology, Emory University, School of Medicine, shares his research results.
SOUNDBITE #1:
BREAST CANCER IS THE MOST COMMON INVASIVE CANCER IN WOMEN, AND FOR MANY, SURGERY IS THE BEST TREATMENT. UNFORTUNATELY, MANY WOMEN WILL HAVE A PERSISTENT PAIN AFTER SURGERY CALLED POST-MASTECTOMY PAIN SYNDROME. UNTIL NOW, THERE HAS BEEN NO REAL EFFECTIVE TREATMENT TO STOP THIS PAIN. IN OUR STUDY, WE USED A MINIMALLY INVASIVE PROCEDURE CALLED CRYOABLATION TO TREAT THIS PAIN. USING LIVE C-T IMAGING, WE PLACE THE NEEDLE INTO THE NERVE TRANSMITTING THE PAIN. WE FREEZE THAT NERVE WHICH NOT ONLY BLOCKS THE PAIN SIGNALS, BUT RESULTS IN ULTIMATE REPAIR OF THE DAMAGED NERVE. IT TAKES ABOUT AN HOUR, REQUIRES ONLY LOCAL ANESTHETIC, AND MOST PATIENTS GO HOME THE SAME DAY.
SOUNDBITE #2:
PROCEDURES LIKE THIS FOR POST-MASTECTOMY PAIN ARE GREAT EXAMPLES OF HOW THE SPECIALTY OF INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY CAN HELP PATIENTS WITH PAIN. MANY CANCER PATIENTS MAY BE LIVING IN PAIN UNNECESSARILY, AND THESE PROCEDURES CAN BE LIFE-CHANGING. CRYOABLATION IS NON-SURGICAL AND HAS VERY FEW COMPLICATIONS. IN ADDITION TO HELPING CANCER PATIENTS LIVE THEIR BEST LIVES MORE FULLY, IT CAN ALSO HELP THEM STICK WITH THEIR CANCER TREATMENTS.
To learn more about this and other interventional radiology treatments, visit sirweb.org.