Bupivacaine Digital Blocks: How Long is the Pain Relief and Temperature Elevation?

October 2, 2012 updated by: Lalonde, Donald H., M.D.

No one knows how long bupivacaine finger blocks last. Many use bupivacaine with and without epinephrine, but no one knows how the epinephrine affects the duration of the block. We also don't know how long the pain part of the block lasts, which is what counts.

The goal of the study is to determine the duration of action of bupivacaine digital nerve blocks (with and without epinephrine) on finger temperature and the sensory modalities of pain, touch, and pressure. 2 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% with and without epinephrine will be injected at the base of each ring finger on the palm surface. At the end of 1 hr, 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 14 hrs and each additional hour, patients will use an insulin lancet to measure pain, the Semmes Weinstein monofilament test to measure light touch and pressure and a body surface thermometer to measure finger temperature. The time for the finger to return to normal sensation and temperature will be measured.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Lidocaine finger blocks have been shown to provide analgesia for nearly 5 hours without epinephrine and approximately 10 hours with epinephrine - essentially doubling its duration.1,2 The analgesic effect of epinephrine on the duration of bupivacaine finger blocks remains unknown.

Bupivacaine finger injection provides a much longer duration of action than lidocaine. Previous studies have shown the duration of action to be as long as 24.9 hours.1 In the senior author's experience, however, patients who get bupivacaine blocks start asking for pain medication as early as 7 hours after the block. Is it possible that the pain blocking effect of bupivacaine has a different duration than the touch and pressure effects? The answer to this question also remains unknown.

The third unknown question about bupivacaine digital blocks is their effect on fingertip temperature. It has been shown that lidocaine wrist blocks increase temperature in finger tips, and this has been postulated to be potentially helpful in frostbite to provide pain relief and hyperemia.3 Previous studies have shown bupivacaine to exhibit vasodilatory properties at clinical concentrations of injection.4-7 Does bupivacaine provide increased warmth to the finger tip? How long does it last?

The goals of this study are three fold: 1.) To determine what effect epinephrine has on the duration of bupivacaine finger block anesthesia. 2.) To assess the duration of action of bupivacaine with and without epinephrine on the digital sensory modalities of pain, touch and pressure, and 3.) To assess the finger tip temperature changes that result from bupivacaine digital blocks with and without epinephrine.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

44

Phase

  • 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
    • New Brunswick
      • Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 4L2
        • Saint John Regional 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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy adult volunteer

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Under the age of majority
  • Unable to give consent
  • Pregnancy
  • Diabetes
  • Allergy to local anesthetic
  • Prior finger surgery
  • Preexisting digital vascular ischemia

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: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Ring Finger Nerve Block
Drug: Bupivacaine 0.5%
Drug: Bupivacaine 0.5% + Epinephrine (1:200,000)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Time to return of pin-prick (pain) sensation
Time Frame: 24 hours
24 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Lalonde, Donald H., M.D.

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

July 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 1, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 2, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

October 3, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 3, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 2, 2012

Last Verified

October 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RS#2009-1356

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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