Intractable Neck Pain in an Oncologic Palliative Care Setting: Is Cancer Always the Answer?

Refractory pain is a common manifestation in an oncologic palliative care setting and represents a major challenge for health care professionals involved in care provision. The underlying neoplasm and its dissemination are the foremost pathophysiologic mechanism for the development of pain in patients with advanced cancer. Nonetheless, other etiologies such as trauma and infections need to be considered by clinicians in this particular care setting. The authors present the case of a patient with a recent diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, suffering from intractable neck pain, progressive worsening of her general conditions, and the onset of a generalized seizure. The clinical suspicion of a bacteremia with central nervous system involvement was confirmed by the performed work-up, and a Listeria monocytogenes meningoencephalitis was diagnosed. The purpose of this case report is to raise clinicians' awareness on infectious complications, which may increase the symptom burden in patients treated in an oncologic palliative care setting. Moreover, the manifestation of such complications may be misinterpreted as the consequence of the underlying neoplasm, further delaying the diagnostic and therapeutic management in this particular population.