Bilateral Thoracoscopic Splanchnicectomy for Pain Relief in Patients With Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

June 17, 2021 updated by: Gary C. Vitale, MD, University of Louisville
This study aims to compare the efficacy of bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy (BTS) to conventional narcotic analgesia for control of abdominal pain in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma not amenable to surgical resection.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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Withdrawn

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

All patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer will be considered for participation in this study. Patients with locally advanced or metastatic cancer that meet inclusion criteria will be randomized into one of two arms, treatment with BTS and narcotic analgesia or treatment with narcotic analgesia alone. After randomization a baseline pain score will be assessed using the visual analog pain scale. Narcotic dosage and frequency will be evaluated at the time of enrollment. A pre-treatment quality of life score will be recorded using the SF-12® Patient Questionnaire. Patients will also be queried about the presence of nausea and reflux.

After all baseline assessments are complete patients will be taken to the OR to undergo their assigned procedure. BTS and infusaport placement will be performed on patients randomly selected for treatment with BTS and narcotic analgesia. BTS will be performed as described in the study procedure. Patients chosen to be treated with narcotic analgesia alone will undergo infusaport placement only. An evaluation will be completed postoperatively in which the length of stay, post-op complications, and chest X-ray results will be recorded. Follow-up assessments will be conducted 24-48 hours post-procedure and at the time of discharge. Further follow-up assessments will be conducted 14 days, 30 days, and 90 days post-procedure during an office visit with the clinical research team or medical oncology.

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

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

  • United States
    • Kentucky
      • Louisville, Kentucky, United States, 40202
        • University of Louisville
    • South Carolina
      • Greenville, South Carolina, United States, 29605
        • Greenville Memorial 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

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Must be 18 years of age
  2. Diagnosed with stage III/IV pancreatic cancer
  3. Willing and able to comply with the protocol requirements
  4. Able to comprehend and have signed the Informed Consent Form (ICF) to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Participating in another clinical trial for the treatment of cancer at the time of screening
  2. Pregnant or currently breast feeding

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: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

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: BTS Intervention
Bilateral thoracoscopic splanchnicectomy and infusaport placement will be performed on patients randomly selected for treatment with BTS and narcotic analgesia. Narcotics will still be prescribed for pain as needed.
Procedure: Bilateral Thoracoscopic Splanchnicectomy
BTS will be performed on all patients under general endotracheal anesthesia. Patients will be placed in the prone position. A 5 mm trocar should be placed at the inferior scapular apex on the patient's left side. After confirmation of trocar placement with a 30 degree 5 mm thoracoscope, a second trocar will be placed two intercostal spaces below and two cm medial to the first trocar. After the splanchnic nerves are identified inferior and medial to the sympathetic trunk, the pleura will be incised on both sides of each of the nerves. Skin incisions are then closed and the procedure will then be repeated on the patient's right side.
NO_INTERVENTION: No BTS Intervention
Patients chosen to be treated with narcotic analgesia alone will undergo infusaport placement only.

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
Abdominal pain
Time Frame: 1 year
Pain will be measured using a visual analog pain score
1 year
Daily Narcotic Requirements
Time Frame: 1 year
Narcotic usage will be monitored at each follow-up visit
1 year

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
Quality of Life Assessment
Time Frame: 1 year
Quality of Life will be measured using the SF-12® Patient Questionnaire
1 year
Presence of Nausea
Time Frame: 1 year
Patients will be queried about the presence of nausea using a questionnaire
1 year
Presence of Reflux
Time Frame: 1 Year
Patients will be queried about the presence of reflux using a questionnaire
1 Year
Use of Anti-emetics
Time Frame: 1 year
anti-emetic dosage will be measures at each follow-up visit
1 year

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 of Louisville

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Norton Healthcare

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 (ACTUAL)

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.
August 31, 2017

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

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.
April 16, 2018

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.
April 16, 2018

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).
April 7, 2017

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.
April 12, 2017

First Posted (ACTUAL)

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.
April 18, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

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.
June 21, 2021

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.
June 17, 2021

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.
June 1, 2021

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.
  • 17.0315

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD will not be shared with other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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