The Impact of Pecs Blocks on Postmastectomy Pain Syndrome

February 5, 2023 updated by: Dr Kassiani Theodoraki, Aretaieion University Hospital

The Impact of Pecs Blocks on the Appearance of Post Mastectomy Chronic Pain Symptoms

The aim of the present study is to investigate the incidence of chronic pain following breast cancer surgery in Cyprus, discover its associated risk factors and explore the impact of Pecs Blocks on the appearance of post mastectomy chronic pain symptoms

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

Breast cancer is the commonest type of malignancy in women. Chronic postoperative neuropathic pain may appear either in the early postoperative period or at a later stage, usually 3-6 months post-operatively. Chronic post-operative pain syndrome of any magnitude usually involves 19-57% of patients that have undergone any kind of surgical procedure, while 5% of them experience intense symptoms. Risk factors for developing post-mastectomy pain syndrome include younger age, increased Body mass Index (BMI), psychological profile, co-existence of other painful conditions, pre-operative radiotherapy/chemotherapy, type of surgical procedure and anaesthesia, persistent acute postoperative pain, etc. Consequently, chronic post mastectomy pain syndrome results in significant psychosomatic sequelae with variable social impacts for the female patients.

The aim of the present study will be to investigate the incidence of chronic pain following breast cancer surgery in Cyprus, discover its associated risk factors and explore the impact of Pecs Blocks on the appearance of post mastectomy chronic pain symptoms.

During the preoperative visit, the women will be informed about the study and will be instructed to the use of the pain numeric rating scale (NRS) graded from 0 to 10. Standardized anesthesia will be administered. All patients will receive 1000 mg of paracetamol and 0.07 mg/ Kg of morphine intraoperatively. In the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), patients will receive additional morphine boluses on request, until NRS score is lesser or equal than 4. Postoperative nausea and vomiting will be treated with ondansetron 4 mg iv. After discharge from PACU, patients will receive a combination of paracetamol 1 gr/6h and im pethidine 75 mg on request, as per hospital protocol.

Numerical rating scores (NRS) at rest and movement will be measured at 6h, 12h and 24h postoperatively. Additionally, the time to first request for analgesia after surgery will be noted.

All patients will also be evaluated 3 and 6 months after surgery with the use of NRS at rest and movement and additionally, via the use of Douleur Neuropathique (DN4) questionnaire for the occurence of neuropathic pain.

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.
64

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

  • Cyprus
      • Limassol, Cyprus
        • General Hospital of Limassol
      • Nicosia, Cyprus
        • General Hospital of Nicosia
  • Greece
      • Athens, Greece, 115 28
        • ARETAIEION University 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

20 years to 85 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-III patients
  • Breast cancer patients
  • Patients who receive operative treatment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • inability to consent to the study due to language barriers or cognitive dysfunction -
  • skin infection at the puncture site
  • contraindication to paracetamol administration
  • known previous hepatic or renal impairment as assessed by the patients' history and routine biochemical markers

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: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

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.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: study group
Pecs block under real-time ultrasound guidance after anesthesia induction will be performed. In specific, using the in-plane insertion technique, after visualization of the entire needle as a bright hyperechoic line and aiming between pectoralis major and pectoralis minor at the 3rd rib level, 2 ml of normal saline 09% will be injected first, to verify the correct position of the needle. Followingly, 10 mL ropivacaine 0.5% will be injected in order to block the lateral and medial pectoral nerves. Finally, another 15 ml of ropivacaine 0.5% plus 4 mg of dexamethasone will be injected between the pectoralis minor muscle and the anterior serratus muscle,at the level of the 4th and 5th ribs, after negative aspiration, to block the intercostal and intercostobrachial nerves. Using the color Doppler the vessels will be identified, so that their puncture is avoided during the procedures.
Other: Pecs block
Pecs block under real-time ultrasound guidance after anesthesia induction will be performed.
SHAM_COMPARATOR: control group
no regional block will be performed
Other: no Pecs block
no regional block will be performed in this arm

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
pain score 6 hours postoperatively
Time Frame: 6 hours after surgery
pain score by the use of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) 6 hours postoperatively, ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 means "no pain" and 10 means "worst pain imaginable"
6 hours after surgery
pain score 12 hours postoperatively
Time Frame: 12 hours after surgery
pain score by the use of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) 12 hours postoperatively, ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 means "no pain" and 10 means "worst pain imaginable"
12 hours after surgery
pain score 24 hours postoperatively
Time Frame: 24 hours after surgery
pain score by the use of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) 24 hours postoperatively, ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 means "no pain" and 10 means "worst pain imaginable"
24 hours after surgery

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
incidence of chronic pain
Time Frame: 3 months after surgery
occurrence of chronic pain at the site of the operation 3 months after surgery, with the use of the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), at rest and during movement
3 months after surgery
incidence of chronic pain
Time Frame: 6 months after surgery
occurrence of chronic pain at the site of the operation 6 months after surgery, with the use of the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), at rest and during movement
6 months after surgery
time of first request for analgesia
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively
time of first request for analgesia after the operation
24 hours postoperatively
analgesic consumption in mg of morphine
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively
additional analgesic consumption in the first 24 hours after the operation
24 hours postoperatively
satisfaction from postoperative analgesia
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively
satisfaction from postoperative analgesia on a four-point Likert scale with 1 marked as minimal satisfaction and 4 as maximal satisfaction
24 hours postoperatively
Pecs block related complications
Time Frame: 48 hours postoperatively
Pecs block-related complications at the site of the local anesthetic injection
48 hours postoperatively

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.
Aretaieion University Hospital

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

Helpful Links

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 1, 2020

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.
March 31, 2022

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.
March 31, 2022

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).
October 6, 2020

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.
October 7, 2020

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.
October 14, 2020

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.
February 8, 2023

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.
February 5, 2023

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.
February 1, 2023

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.
  • Breast-Nektaria

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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