Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions

Cervical sympathetic or stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs) have been commonly used in the treatment of painful conditions like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). However, there is literature to suggest its utility in managing non-painful conditions as well. The focus of this literature review is to...

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Main Authors: Heena Singh, Manikandan Rajarathinam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2024-04-01
Series:Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_304_22
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author Heena Singh
Manikandan Rajarathinam
author_facet Heena Singh
Manikandan Rajarathinam
author_sort Heena Singh
collection DOAJ
description Cervical sympathetic or stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs) have been commonly used in the treatment of painful conditions like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). However, there is literature to suggest its utility in managing non-painful conditions as well. The focus of this literature review is to provide an overview of indications for SGB for painful and non-painful conditions. We identified published journal articles in the past 25 years from Embase and PubMed databases with the keywords “cervical sympathetic block, stellate ganglion blocks, cervical sympathetic chain, and cervical sympathetic trunk”. A total of 1556 articles were obtained from a literature search among which 311 articles were reviewed. Among painful conditions, there is a lack of evidence in favor of or against the use of SGB for CRPS despite its common use. SGB can provide postoperative analgesia in selective surgeries and can be effective in temporary pain control of refractory angina and the acute phase of herpes zoster infection. Among non-painful conditions, SGB may have beneficial effects on the management of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), refractory ventricular arrhythmias, hot flashes in postmenopausal women, and breast cancer–related lymphedema. Additionally, there have been various case reports illustrating the benefits of SGB in the management of cerebral vasospasm, upper limb erythromelalgia, thalamic and central post-stroke pain, palmar hyperhidrosis, orofacial pain, etc. In our review of literature, we found that SGB can be useful in the management of various non-painful conditions beyond the well-known treatment for CRPS, although further studies are required to prove its efficacy.
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spelling doaj-art-121e8d54b8b24d6faad597c4e19041f72024-12-17T07:08:08ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology2231-27302024-04-0140218519110.4103/joacp.joacp_304_22Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditionsHeena SinghManikandan RajarathinamCervical sympathetic or stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs) have been commonly used in the treatment of painful conditions like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). However, there is literature to suggest its utility in managing non-painful conditions as well. The focus of this literature review is to provide an overview of indications for SGB for painful and non-painful conditions. We identified published journal articles in the past 25 years from Embase and PubMed databases with the keywords “cervical sympathetic block, stellate ganglion blocks, cervical sympathetic chain, and cervical sympathetic trunk”. A total of 1556 articles were obtained from a literature search among which 311 articles were reviewed. Among painful conditions, there is a lack of evidence in favor of or against the use of SGB for CRPS despite its common use. SGB can provide postoperative analgesia in selective surgeries and can be effective in temporary pain control of refractory angina and the acute phase of herpes zoster infection. Among non-painful conditions, SGB may have beneficial effects on the management of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), refractory ventricular arrhythmias, hot flashes in postmenopausal women, and breast cancer–related lymphedema. Additionally, there have been various case reports illustrating the benefits of SGB in the management of cerebral vasospasm, upper limb erythromelalgia, thalamic and central post-stroke pain, palmar hyperhidrosis, orofacial pain, etc. In our review of literature, we found that SGB can be useful in the management of various non-painful conditions beyond the well-known treatment for CRPS, although further studies are required to prove its efficacy.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_304_22cervical sympathetic blockcomplex regional pain syndromestellate ganglion
spellingShingle Heena Singh
Manikandan Rajarathinam
Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions
Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology
cervical sympathetic block
complex regional pain syndrome
stellate ganglion
title Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions
title_full Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions
title_fullStr Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions
title_full_unstemmed Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions
title_short Stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain: A literature review on its application in painful and non-painful conditions
title_sort stellate ganglion block beyond chronic pain a literature review on its application in painful and non painful conditions
topic cervical sympathetic block
complex regional pain syndrome
stellate ganglion
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_304_22
work_keys_str_mv AT heenasingh stellateganglionblockbeyondchronicpainaliteraturereviewonitsapplicationinpainfulandnonpainfulconditions
AT manikandanrajarathinam stellateganglionblockbeyondchronicpainaliteraturereviewonitsapplicationinpainfulandnonpainfulconditions