Effect of Sumatriptan on the Postoperative Quality of Recovery After Elective Minimally Invasive Craniotomy

December 20, 2022 updated by: Lashmi Venkatraghavan, University Health Network, Toronto
Postoperative migrainous headache following craniotomy is distressing and may cause significant morbidity and often delay discharge from the hospital. The mechanism of this post craniotomy migraine is multifactorial. Possible causes include the intraoperative loss of cerebrospinal fluid leading to stretching of the dura, traction on intracranial vessels and meningeal irritation. There are two groups of patients who undergo elective minimally invasive craniotomies and yet have considerable postoperative migraine headache postoperatively. These are patients who have a craniotomy for clipping of an unruptured cerebral aneurysm and patients who require a microvascular decompressive craniotomy for cranial nerve pain such as trigeminal neuralgia. Their postoperative migrainous headache often impairs the quality of their recovery and may even delay discharge from hospital. Opioid analgesics are not always effective and may also worsen the postoperative nausea and vomiting and in turn postoperative quality of their recovery. Sumatriptan is a drug that has been used for decades for the treatment of migraine headaches. It acts on 5hydroxytryptophan receptors, which are located in the dura mater (lining of the brain) and are also located around the cranial trigeminal nerve ganglion. Thus sumatriptan may be an effective to improve postoperative migraine , nausea and vomiting and overall quality of recovery. We plan to do a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial on the effect of Sumatriptan for postoperative migraine on the postoperative quality of recovery after elective minimally invasive craniotomies. A total of 92 patients scheduled to undergo minimally invasive craniotomy for either clipping of an unruptured aneurysm or microvascular decompression for cranial nerve neuralgias will be included in this study. Patients within the 2 surgical groups with postoperative migraine will then be block randomized to receive either 6mg of sumatriptan subcutaneously or placebo following assessment in the post operative care unit (PACU). The primary outcome measure will be quality of recovery at 24 hours using Quality of recovery 40 Questionnaire (QoR-40). Our secondary outcome will be postoperative pain, analgesic consumption, side effects and hospital discharge times.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Recently there have been changes in the surgical management of many patients who have an unruptured cerebral aneurysm and or cranial nerve neuralgia pain. The surgical technique now consists of a minimally invasive craniotomy that is less invasive with a smaller incision, shorter duration of procedure and in some patients the possibility of going home the same day, Postoperative surgical pain from the incision itself is usually minimal and they are usually managed very well with combination of both opioid and non-opioid analgesics such as fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone, codeine, oxycocet, oxycontin and acetaminophen. In addition, up to 65% patients undergoing craniotomy may suffer from post craniotomy headache and the incidence may be higher after posterior fossa craniotomy. (1) Patients often complain of severe migraine headache associated with photophobia, nausea and vomiting and general feeling of unwell. These discomforts often delay discharge from the hospital and affect the quality of recovery. (2,3) Post craniotomy surgical pain usually decreases significantly after 24 hours whereas post craniotomy migraine headache, which may be a separate entity, continues for a longer period of time. (4) This migraine headache is in different location from the surgical incision and the conventional treatments of post surgical pain are ineffective against migraine headache.(5) Hence these patients usually suffer a lot after minimally invasive craniotomy. The mechanisms of postoperative migraine are also poorly understood and may be multifactorial including raised intracranial pressure, traction on intracranial blood vessels or meningeal irritation. (6) These factors activate the trigeminal afferent C fibres that reside on pial and dural blood vessels. This causes transmission of pain and release of neurogenic peptides activating an inflammatory cascade causing vasodilation and perivascular inflammation. The loss of cerebrospinal fluid is another factor.(7) With a minimally invasive craniotomy, loss of cerebrospinal fluid is unavoidable as it is needed for better surgical access. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptophan) is a neurotransmitter that is thought to contribute to the feeling of wellbeing. There are receptors for 5hydroxytryptophan (5-HT) located in the central nervous system especially in the trigeminal nerve both near the dura as well as in brainstem (near the trigeminal nuclei) and also located on vascular endothelium and smooth muscle in meningeal blood vessels as well as in neuronal tissue.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 2S8
        • Toronto Western Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 76 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients having elective craniotomy for clipping of unruptured intracranial aneurysm
  2. Patients having craniotomy and microvascular decompression for cranial nerve neuralgia
  3. Age 18-80
  4. ASA I -III

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with a known history of hypersensitivity to Sumatriptan or sulphonamides
  2. Patients with a known history of Migraine
  3. Patients who is on regular treatment with Sumatriptan
  4. Patients with history of Ischemic heart disease - Angina, Myocardial infarction.
  5. Patients who had rupture of their intracranial aneurysm.
  6. Patients with history of severe liver disease.
  7. Patients with history of stroke or uncontrolled hypertension
  8. Inability to give informed consent
  9. Pregnant patient

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Sumatriptan
Subcutaneous injection of sumatriptan (6 mg)
Drug: Sumatriptan
Single subcutaneous injection sumatriptan 6mg (in 0.5ml) in recovery
Other: Placebo
Single injection saline 0.5ml subcutaneously in recovery
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Matching placebo (0.9% saline)
Drug: Sumatriptan
Single subcutaneous injection sumatriptan 6mg (in 0.5ml) in recovery
Other: Placebo
Single injection saline 0.5ml subcutaneously in recovery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of Recovery
Time Frame: 24 hours
Using the validated Quality of Recovery 40 Questionnaire (QoR-40)
24 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Post operative pain scores
Time Frame: 24 hours
Surgical site pain scores reported in the PACU. The numeric rating scale (NRS 0-10; 0, no pain; 10, worst pain imaginable) validated for measuring postoperative pain intensity. This scale is often used to divide patients into groups who are in need of pain treatment (moderate and severe pain) and those who are not (mild pain).
24 hours
Post operative headache scores
Time Frame: 24 hours
The Migraine-Specific Symptoms and Disability criteria and the Migraine Headache Index are used to characterize migraine symptoms in patient population before and after decompressive surgery.
24 hours
Total analgesic consumption
Time Frame: 24 hours
Postoperative analgesic consumption will be assessed in the two groups
24 hours
Time to first opioid administration
Time Frame: less than 24 hours
Monitoring the time of the first opioid dose in recovery room
less than 24 hours
Postoperative nausea and vomiting
Time Frame: less than 24 hours
The incidence of PONV throughout the postoperative period
less than 24 hours
Hospital discharge time
Time Frame: less than one week
Time to hospital discharge is recorded.
less than one week

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University Health Network, Toronto

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Lashmi Venkatraghavan, MD, University Health Network, Toronto

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 15, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 15, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 28, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 28, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 3, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 22, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 20, 2022

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 12-0139

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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