Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42613854›Full record

ArticlePain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain2026

Percutaneous Cervical Cordotomy for Refractory Cancer Pain With General Anesthesia and Neuromonitoring: A Case Report.

Salaar Ahmed, Yuhao Huang, Mensure Polat, Felix Chang, Jaime R Lopez, Paul Duncan McGeoch, Vivek P Buch, Shireen N Heidari, Adela Wu, Carter Neugarten and 4 more

Abstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Salaar AhmedDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0834-5535
Yuhao HuangDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Mensure PolatDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4089-938X
Felix ChangDepartment of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Jaime R LopezDepartment of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Paul Duncan McGeochDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Vivek P BuchDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Shireen N HeidariDepartment of Medicine - Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Adela WuDepartment of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Carter NeugartenDepartment of Medicine - Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Ian CarrollDepartment of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
William G BroseDepartment of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Bryan LanzmanDepartment of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Ashwin G RamayyaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4444-0433

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCancer-related pain remains one of the most debilitating symptoms in patients with advanced malignancy, with a significant proportion experiencing pain refractory to standard medical therapy. Percutaneous cordotomy is an established intervention targeting the spinothalamic pathway and can provide meaningful relief in appropriately selected patients; however, its use has declined and is typically performed in awake patients. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old woman with metastatic gallbladder carcinoma presented with severe, unilateral, nociceptive abdominal pain refractory to medical and interventional treatments. Given her limited life expectancy and persistent symptoms, she underwent percutaneous cervical cordotomy. At the patient's request, the procedure was performed under general anesthesia. We achieved excellent localization for safe ablation using intraoperative CT and neuromonitoring guidance. Postoperatively, she reported complete resolution of her primary pain (8-10/10 to 0/10) on postoperative Day 1. She developed expected contralateral "mirror pain," which was less severe and manageable. Pain relief was sustained during early follow-up, although later recurrence was attributed to disease progression rather than procedural failure.

conclusionThis case demonstrates that percutaneous cordotomy can be performed safely and effectively under general anesthesia with the aid of intraoperative CT and neuromonitoring. This approach may expand the applicability of cordotomy in carefully selected patients with refractory cancer pain, particularly when patient comfort is a priority.

Indexed as

Anesthesia, GeneralCancer PainCervical CordCordotomyIntractable PainFemaleHumansMiddle Agedcancer painneuroimagingneuromonitoringpercutaneous cordotomy

Identifiers

PMID42613854
PMCPMC13486940

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.