Clinical trial NCT04864210: Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery - Exparel Study
Official title: Analgesia for Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgeries: A Comparison Between Intercostal Blocks With Liposomal Bupivacaine and Paravertebral Blocks With Plain Bupivacaine
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Pain, Postoperative
Keywords: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)
Paravertebral blocks
Liposomal Bupivacaine (Exparel)
Lead sponsor: University of Iowa
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: American Society of Regional Anesthesia
First posted: 2021-04-28
Enrollment: 176
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) greatly decreased the number and types of surgery that required open thoracotomy. Initially it was thought that VATS would lead to a reduction of respiratory problems and less acute pain in patients when compared to patients receiving an open thoracic surgery. However, for reasons not clearly understood, a large number of patients who undergo VATS still experience moderate to severe post-surgical pain. Physicians are still faced with the challenge of providing care that will manage both the respiratory issues as well as manage acute pain. The goal of this study is to find the most suitable regimen to effectively manage post-VATS-related pain.

Detailed description: The "promise" was that video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) would be associated with less severe pulmonary impairment and less acute post-operative pain compared to open thoracotomy. However, VATS can cause moderate to severe post-operative pain in a significant number of patients and the reason for this is not well understood. In addition it has been found that post-surgical pain can be a strong predictor for the development of chronic pain. Inadequate control of acute pain not only causes serious discomfort and significant respiratory problems, but it may place this population of patients at greater risk of chronic pain and prescription opioid dependence.

Current protocols to manage and/or reduce VATS associated pain include combining the use of regional anesthesia techniques with opioid and non-opioid analgesics. Recent studies have investigated the efficacy of intercostal blocks using liposomal bupivacaine after thoracic surgery. However, these studies lacked an active comparator population of patients.

The study is designed as a prospective randomized study evaluating intercostal blocks using liposomal bupivacaine. The control population of patients will be treated with a paravertebral block using plain bupivacaine.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age over 18 years and less than 80 years
* Undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) procedure
* BMI less than 40

Exclusion Criteria:

* Unable to provide informed consent
* Non-English speaking
* Pregnant
* BMI greater than 40
* Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery pleurodesis subjects
* Patients with pre-existing chronic pain
* Opioid tolerance
* Pain syndromes including fibromyalgia, regional pain syndrome or post therapeutic neuralgia in a thoracic distribution
* Allergy to the study medication
* Patients with infectious disease
* Patients with impaired coagulation
* Severe hepatic disease
* Incarcerated

Primary outcomes:
measure: Measure post-operative opioid usage
timeFrame: Up to 48 hours post procedure
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Measure lung function
timeFrame: Up to 48 hours post procedure
measure: Measure post-operative opioid consumption following discharge from the hospital
timeFrame: Up to 6 months post procedure.
measure: Measure post-operative pain scores after discharge from the hospital
timeFrame: Up to 6 months post procedure.
measure: Calculate length of hospital stay
timeFrame: Up to 7 days
measure: Record the return to normal bowel function
timeFrame: Up to 7 days
measure: Measure post-operative acute pain scores
timeFrame: Up to 48 hours post procedure
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Iowa City
country: United States
facility: University of Iowa
state: Iowa
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Iowa
name: Nada Sadek, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Bayman EO, Parekh KR, Keech J, Larson N, Vander Weg M, Brennan TJ. Preoperative Patient Expectations of Postoperative Pain Are Associated with Moderate to Severe Acute Pain After VATS. Pain Med. 2019 Mar 1;20(3):543-554. doi: 10.1093/pm/pny096.
citation: Bayman EO, Parekh KR, Keech J, Selte A, Brennan TJ. A Prospective Study of Chronic Pain after Thoracic Surgery. Anesthesiology. 2017 May;126(5):938-951. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000001576.
citation: Furrer M, Rechsteiner R, Eigenmann V, Signer C, Althaus U, Ris HB. Thoracotomy and thoracoscopy: postoperative pulmonary function, pain and chest wall complaints. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 1997 Jul;12(1):82-7. doi: 10.1016/s1010-7940(97)00105-x.
citation: Steegers MA, Snik DM, Verhagen AF, van der Drift MA, Wilder-Smith OH. Only half of the chronic pain after thoracic surgery shows a neuropathic component. J Pain. 2008 Oct;9(10):955-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2008.05.009. Epub 2008 Jul 16.
citation: Steinthorsdottir KJ, Wildgaard L, Hansen HJ, Petersen RH, Wildgaard K. Regional analgesia for video-assisted thoracic surgery: a systematic review. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2014 Jun;45(6):959-66. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezt525. Epub 2013 Nov 27.
citation: Adhikary SD, Pruett A, Forero M, Thiruvenkatarajan V. Erector spinae plane block as an alternative to epidural analgesia for post-operative analgesia following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: A case study and a literature review on the spread of local anaesthetic in the erector spinae plane. Indian J Anaesth. 2018 Jan;62(1):75-78. doi: 10.4103/ija.IJA_693_17.
citation: Shariat A, Bhatt H. Successful Use of Serratus Plane Block as Primary Anesthetic for Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS)-Assisted Pleural Effusion Drainage. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2018 Feb;32(1):e31-e32. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2017.10.038. Epub 2017 Oct 31. No abstract available.
citation: Khalil KG, Boutrous ML, Irani AD, Miller CC 3rd, Pawelek TR, Estrera AL, Safi HJ. Operative Intercostal Nerve Blocks With Long-Acting Bupivacaine Liposome for Pain Control After Thoracotomy. Ann Thorac Surg. 2015 Dec;100(6):2013-8. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2015.08.017. Epub 2015 Oct 24.
citation: Parascandola SA, Ibanez J, Keir G, Anderson J, Plankey M, Flynn D, Cody C, De Marchi L, Margolis M, Blair Marshall M. Liposomal bupivacaine versus bupivacaine/epinephrine after video-assisted thoracoscopic wedge resectiondagger. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2017 Jun 1;24(6):925-930. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivx044.
citation: Rice DC, Cata JP, Mena GE, Rodriguez-Restrepo A, Correa AM, Mehran RJ. Posterior Intercostal Nerve Block With Liposomal Bupivacaine: An Alternative to Thoracic Epidural Analgesia. Ann Thorac Surg. 2015 Jun;99(6):1953-60. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2015.02.074. Epub 2015 Apr 23.