| Purposes of Nerve Blocks | |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic: | to determine source of pain (e.g., somatic nerve versus sympathetic pathways). |
| Therapeutic: | to treat painful conditions that respond to nerve blocks (e.g., celiac blocks for pain of pancreatic cancer). |
| Prognostic: | to predict outcome of permanent interventions such as infusions, neurolysis, and rhizotomy. |
| Preemptive: | to prevent painful sequelae of procedures that may cause phantom limb, causalgia, or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. |