A Pilot Study of Bupivacaine Infusion in Abdominal Surgery

Sponsor
Margherita CADDEDU (Other)
Overall Status
Unknown status
CT.gov ID
NCT00280553
Collaborator
McMaster University (Other), The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation (Other), St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (Other)
60
1
3
96
0.6

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The incisions used in abdominal surgery can be quite painful, requiring strong pain medications. A new pain pump that trickles small amounts of local freezing into the incision has been developed that helps numb the area so that the patient does not feel the pain for two to five days after surgery.

The main research question is whether use of the pain pump will result in decreased hospital length of stay. The research is important because if the pain pump is found to be effective, it can substantially decrease the length of stay. Areas to be studied include hospital length of stay, patient's comfort post-operatively, and post-operative complications.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
Phase 2

Detailed Description

Pain in the post-operative period has been a limiting factor delaying recovery following abdominal surgery. Furthermore, it has been associated with several complications including ileus, urinary retention, delay to tolerating oral intake and enteral feeds, thrombo-embolic complications, and respiratory complications such as atelectasis and pneumonia. Diminishing pain in the post-operative period has been a subject of great study and to date the role of epidural analgesia, epidural anesthesia, patient controlled anesthesia and narcotic analgesia has been well documented to assist in controlling pain, decreasing morbidity and accelerating recovery in the post-operative period following colorectal surgery.

Nevertheless, the use of opioid-based analgesic techniques via epidural, nurse or patient controlled delivery systems either oral or parenteral can produce adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, ileus, delay in tolerance or urinary retention. Concomitant use of non-narcotic based analgesics have failed to obviate the need for narcotic based analgesia. Recently, several companies have developed devices that deliver a constant rate of local anesthetic via a spring loaded device through a multiport catheter inserted into the incision. The effectiveness of these bupivicaine infusion pumps has been demonstrated to diminish post-operative pain following orthopedic, plastic, thoracic and cardiac surgeries but to date their role has not been evaluated in colorectal surgery or abdominal surgery.

The rational of the study is that bupivicaine infusion pumps are being used at St. Joseph's Healthcare for patients undergoing laparoscopic assisted colorectal surgery, and anecdotally, the patients have less pain, need less narcotics and can ambulate and be discharged sooner. This pilot study aims to gather prospective randomized data regarding post-operative length of stay and patient pain scores so that a properly powered randomization study can be undertaken to understand if the bupivicaine infusion system helps decrease length of stay and patient's post-operative pain.

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
60 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose:
Treatment
Official Title:
A Pilot Study of Bupivacaine Infusion in Abdominal Surgery
Study Start Date :
Apr 1, 2005
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Apr 1, 2013
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Apr 1, 2013

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
No Intervention: patient controlled analgesia (PCA) only

Other: PCA and pump with saline infusion for up to five days

Other: Saline infusion
PCA and pump with saline infusion for up to five days

Other: PCA and bupivicaine infusion for up to five days

Drug: bupivicaine
PCA and bupivicaine infusion for up to five days

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. length of stay postoperative in hospital [end of surgery to discharge]

Secondary Outcome Measures

  1. subjective pain of patient [Pre-op and post-op]

  2. incidence of in-hospital and post-discharge complications [Post-op days 1, 2, 3, 5 and 14]

  3. amount of narcotic and non-narcotic analgesia required [Post-op 1, 2, 3, 5 and 14]

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
18 Years to 80 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
Inclusion Criteria:
  • eligible and consented patients between the ages of 18 and 80

  • male and female patients

  • scheduled for elective laparoscopic colorectal resection

  • anesthetist-assessed to be ASA 1-3

Exclusion Criteria:
  • patients with allergies to medications used in study

  • non-ambulatory patients

  • patients with foreign bodies (ie. Orthopedics prostheses)

  • patients requiring colostomies as part of procedure

  • patients with enterocutaneous, entero-enteric, enterovaginal, enterovesicular, recto-vaginal, entero-utero fistulas

  • pregnant patients

  • immuno-compromised patients

  • patients with moderate to severe ascites or moderate to severe hepatic insufficiency

  • patients unable to speak and comprehend English

  • patients requiring emergency colorectal resection

  • patients who, for medical reasons assessed by an anesthetist, are deemed deserving of epidural analgesia

  • patients with seizure disorders

  • patients assessed by an anesthetist to be ASA 4 or 5

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 McMaster University-St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Ontario Canada L8N 4A6

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • Margherita CADDEDU
  • McMaster University
  • The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation
  • St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Margherita Cadeddu, MD, McMaster University

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

Responsible Party:
Margherita CADDEDU, MD, McMaster University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00280553
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • 04-2399
First Posted:
Jan 23, 2006
Last Update Posted:
May 15, 2012
Last Verified:
May 1, 2012
Keywords provided by Margherita CADDEDU, MD, McMaster University
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of May 15, 2012