Korean J Hosp Palliat Care.  2018 Sep;21(3):104-107. 10.14475/kjhpc.2018.21.3.104.

Treatment of Lung Cancer-Related Intractable Hiccups Using Pulsed Radiofrequency: Clinical Experience

• Cho SJ

• KMID: 2435596
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14475/kjhpc.2018.21.3.104

Abstract

While most benign hiccups can be controlled with empirical therapy, intractable hiccups lasting longer than one month tend to have significant adverse effects with obscure etiology. Treatment strategies for intractable hiccups have not been established. Only a few sporadic cases of bilateral phrenic nerve blockage have been reported. Here, we report a case of intractable hiccups that lasted five weeks in a 56-year-old male patient with a lung cancer above the right diaphragm. We hypothesized that his intractable hiccups were caused by irritation and mass effect caused by the lung cancer. We performed an ultrasound-guided right unilateral phrenic nerve pulsed radiofrequency treatment, and the patient's intractable hiccups were successfully managed without complication.

Keyword

Hiccup; Lung neoplasms; Pulsed radiofrequency treatment; Ultrasonography

MeSH Terms

Diaphragm
Hiccup*
Humans
Lung Neoplasms
Lung*
Male
Middle Aged
Phrenic Nerve
Pulsed Radiofrequency Treatment
Ultrasonography