Continuous Erector Spinea Block Versus Intravenous Analgesia in Coronary Bypass Surgery

Lecturer of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Management in Ain Shams University

Adequate postoperative pain relief in patients in cardiac surgery is very essential. multimodal techniques for perioperative pain management post cardiac surgery include intravenous patient controlled analgesia, thoracic epidural and paravertebral blockade. Analgesia through thoracic epidural is the gold standard technique for post-sternotomy pain control but it has serious complications. ESP block is an easy technique compared to paravertebral block and less hazardous than thoracic epidural. Hence, this study will compare continuous bilateral erector spinae block guided by ultrasound with intravenous analgesia which is the standard method for pain management in cardiac surgery.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Erector Spinea Block in Open Heart Surgery
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: intravenous narcotics; Other: continous erector spinea block

Detailed Description

Analgesia through thoracic epidural is the gold standard technique for post-sternotomy pain control. in spite of its serious complications such as epidural hematoma with or without paraplegia that enhanced by heparin administered during cardiac bypass surgery..

Paravertebral blockade is comparable to Thoracic epidural analgesia in cardiac surgery but it may cause complications such as vascular injuries and pneumothorax.

Erector spinae block is recently implemented technique for treatment and analgesia of thoracic neuropathic pain and post mastectomy syndrome. ESP block is an easy technique compared to paravertebral block and less hazardous than thoracic epidural.

This study will compare continuous bilateral erector spinae block guided by ultrasound versus intravenous analgesia for pain management in cardiac surgery Patients will be enrolled in the study will be divided into two groups In Group A: 20 patients will receive fentanyl after induction and intubation in the dose of ( 3-52mcg/kg ) according to the patients haemodynamic parameters and the decision of the anaesthesia team at skin incision, before starting Cardiopulmonary bypass and again after bypass and before sternal closure. Once the surgical procedure is finished, patients will be transferred to ICU. After ICU transfer acetaminophen 1 gm/6hrs will be given regularly and NSAID if there is no contraindication after extubation. morphine 0.5mg/kg as rescue analgesia will be started upon arrival till extubation.

In Group B: 20 patients will have bilateral ESP block will be done under general anaesthesia bolus dose 15 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine will be injected in each of the catheters followed by a continuous infusion of 0.125% plain bupivacaine at the rate of 8 ml/h starting in ICU for 48 h after extubation. patients will receive intraoperative boluses of fentanyl according to the patients' haemodynamic and the decision of the anaesthesia team at skin incision, before starting Cardiopulmonary bypass and again after bypass and before sternal closure. Once the surgical procedure is finished, patients will be transferred to ICU morphine 0.5mg/kg as rescue analgesia will be started upon arrival till extubation. Infusion rate will be titrated according to haemodynamics, pain assessment, and complications. After extubation acetaminophen 1gm/6hrs will be given regularly.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Cairo, Egypt, 11591
    • Ainshams hospitals
  • New Cairo
    • Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt, 11835
      • Sanaa Farag Mahmoud

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• elective cardiac surgery.
• age 18-65 years.
• patients with median sternotomy.
• body mass index <30kg.m2.
• left ventricular ejection fraction >50%.

Exclusion Criteria:

• significant aortic stenosis.
• left main coronary artery disease.
• patient on anti-coagulants0
• pre-existing respiratory, neurological, or renal disease.
• CSF or blood tap during the procedure.
• failure to thread the catheter.
• anomalies of vertebral column.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Narcotics group (group N); intervention: injection of boluses of intra venous Narcotics (fentanyl) in the dose of (3-5 mcg/kg) during the surgery after induction of anesthesia. morphine 0.5mg/kg as rescue analgesia will be started upon arrival till 48 hours after surgery. NSAID every 12 hrs if there is no contraindication and iv acetaminophine igm/6hrs.	Drug: intravenous narcotics; intervention: injection of boluses of intra venous Narcotic drugs (fentanyl) in the dose of (1-2mcg/kg) during the surgery after induction of anesthesia then fentanyl infusion through the postoperative first 24 hours postoperative till extubation then intravenous pethidine till 48 hours after surgery.; Other Names: iv narcotics and NSAID
Experimental: Erector spinea block group (group B); intervention: after induction our intervention will be the performance of ultrasound guided bilateral continous Erector spinea block with insertion of catheters then 15 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine will be injected in each of the catheters followed by a continuous infusion of 0.125% plain bupivacaine at the rate of 8 ml/h. morphine 0.5mg/kg as rescue analgesia will be started upon arrival till extubation and iv acetaminophine igm/6hrs.	Other: continous erector spinea block; Ultrasound guided erector spinea block will be performed while the patient is in left lateral position ) the US probe will be placed in longitudinal parasagittal plane lateral to the T5 spinous process. An 18-gauge epidural needle will be inserted in-plane in a cranial-to-caudal direction until the tip is deep to erector spinae muscle. A 5 cm of epidural catheter will be threaded in cephalad direction. The same steps will be performed on the other side, after the negative aspiration for blood, bolus dose 15 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine will be injected in each of the catheters followed by a continuous infusion of 0.125% plain bupivacaine at the rate of 0.1 ml/kg/h.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
effectiveness of perioperative analgesia	total dose of perioperative narcotics	48 hours after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
extubation time	time passed between end of surgery and removal of endotracheal tube	12 hours after end of surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ain Shams University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Raksamani K, Wongkornrat W, Siriboon P, Pantisawat N. Pain management after cardiac surgery: are we underestimating post sternotomy pain? J Med Assoc Thai. 2013 Jul;96(7):824-8.
• Canto M, Sanchez MJ, Casas MA, Bataller ML. Bilateral paravertebral blockade for conventional cardiac surgery. Anaesthesia. 2003 Apr;58(4):365-70. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2003.03082_2.x.
• Fibla JJ, Molins L, Mier JM, Sierra A, Vidal G. Comparative analysis of analgesic quality in the postoperative of thoracotomy: paravertebral block with bupivacaine 0.5% vs ropivacaine 0.2%. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2008 Mar;33(3):430-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcts.2007.12.003. Epub 2008 Jan 16.
• Hansdottir V, Philip J, Olsen MF, Eduard C, Houltz E, Ricksten SE. Thoracic epidural versus intravenous patient-controlled analgesia after cardiac surgery: a randomized controlled trial on length of hospital stay and patient-perceived quality of recovery. Anesthesiology. 2006 Jan;104(1):142-51. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200601000-00020.
• Dhole S, Mehta Y, Saxena H, Juneja R, Trehan N. Comparison of continuous thoracic epidural and paravertebral blocks for postoperative analgesia after minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2001 Jun;15(3):288-92. doi: 10.1053/jcan.2001.23271.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 18, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): December 10, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): March 7, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 15, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 14, 2021
• Last Verified: January 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: erector spinea block, open heart surgeries,analgesia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Physiological Effects of Drugs; Central Nervous System Depressants; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Analgesics; Sensory System Agents; Narcotics
• Other Study ID Numbers: R07l2019

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