Celiac plexus block may help patients with Crohn’s disease
Crohn’s disease is a disease that affects the digestive system, causing painful inflammatory symptoms. These painful symptoms may be chronic, as there is no known treatment for this disease. Nerve blocks can reduce painful symptoms caused by an overactive inflammatory response in the intestines.
What is Crohn’s disease?
Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It can appear anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the colon. Crohn’s disease is sometimes called regional enteritis or ileitis. It, along with a similar condition called ulcerative colitis, is called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These diseases are known for their unpredictable onset and remissions. Inflammation usually starts in one or more areas of mucus inside the intestine. The disease may invade deeper tissue in the intestinal wall and spread to more areas of the intestine.
Ulcers may form in the most severely inflamed areas. Ulcers may spread and become very large, but are usually separated by areas of relatively healthy tissue with little or no inflammation. The intestinal mucosal lining in Crohn’s disease is often described as looking like a cobblestone street, with areas of ulcers separated by narrow areas of healthy tissue.
Damage to the intestinal wall caused by inflammation can lead to a variety of symptoms and complications. Inflammation damages the lining of your intestines, making it unable to absorb nutrients, water and fat from the food you eat. This is called malabsorption, and it can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, gallstones, and painful kidney stones.
What is Celiac Plexus Blocking?
The celiac plexus is a bundle of nerves in the upper abdomen. It is located behind the pancreas, near the aorta. The celiac nerves connect the pancreas, gallbladder, intestines, liver, and stomach to the brain and spinal cord. Pancreatic tumors often cause pain by compressing and damaging these nerves. A celiac plexus block is a procedure that damages the nerves in the abdominal cavity so that they cannot send pain messages to the brain. It is sometimes used to treat abdominal pain in a variety of conditions. The doctor will inject painkillers to numb the nerves in your abdominal cavity. They then inject a substance to damage the nerves.
How does a celiac plexus block help people with Crohn’s disease?
A celiac plexus block may be used for conditions that cause abdominal pain symptoms. The inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease puts pressure on the nerve bundles in the gastrointestinal tract. This pressure can lead to chronic abdominal pain that may not be relieved by medications. A celiac plexus block can relieve pain by numbing the signals sent by nerve bundles in the gastrointestinal tract to the brain. Stopping these signals can stop the abdominal pain associated with Crohn’s disease.
If you have Crohn’s disease and would like to learn more about nerve blocks, contact Pain Management Center of Chicago for more information.
