Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy Pain Control Trial

July 17, 2025 updated by: Swedish Medical Center

A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Local Intercostal Nerve Blocks, Cryo-ablation Plus Intercostal Nerve Blocks, and Serratus Plane Catheter Plus Intercostal Nerve Blocks After Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy

A pilot randomized controlled trial comparing intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-ablation plus intercostal nerve blocks, and serratus plane catheter plus intercostal nerve blocks in patients undergoing esophagectomies with minimally invasive thoracic approaches.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Pilot study planned to consent 30 patients in total with a projected study timeline of 2-3 years for completion. Participants will be enrolled in the study and randomized in their preoperative clinic visit. On the day of surgery, they will receive the intervention they were randomized to. 10 patients will be randomized to the intercostal block group, 10 patients will be randomized to the cryo-ablation plus intercostal block group, and 10 patients will be randomized to the serratus plane catheter plus intercostal block group. They will be followed throughout their hospital stay until discharge for data collection purposes. Once the patient is discharged from the hospital, post-operative follow-up in the Swedish Thoracic Surgery Clinic will be collected up to 1 year post-operatively.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

All adult individuals who undergo an esophagectomy with an intended minimally invasive approach of the chest at Swedish Medical Center-First Hill. These approaches include:

  • 3-hole with R video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)
  • Ivor Lewis R VATS

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age <18
  • Unable to consent
  • Additional surgical procedures planned
  • Patients with previous thoracic surgery
  • Patient with chronic pain on a daily regimen of narcotics
  • Non-English speaking
  • Contraindications to neuraxial anesthesia (ongoing anticoagulation, anticipated post-operative therapeutic anticoagulation, spinal cord stimulators, anatomic abnormalities preventing epidural placement)

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: local intercostal nerve block
Patients receiving intercostal blocks will receive a total of 1.0 cc/kg of 0.25% Bupivacaine + epinephrine. This will be divided into two-thirds allocated for use in the chest/intercostal block and one-third allocated for use in the abdomen.
Procedure: Local intercostal nerve block
Patients receiving intercostal blocks will receive a total of 1.0 cc/kg of 0.25% Bupivacaine + epinephrine. This will be divided into two-thirds allocated for use in the chest/intercostal block and one-third allocated for use in the abdomen.
Procedure: Thoracic epidural catheter

The pain service and thoracic surgery attending physician will assess if the patient's pain is not well-controlled using the pain modality they are randomized to. If additional pain control is needed, this will likely consist of a thoracic epidural catheter.

Any additional pain control will be added as an adjunct to the study arm and will be noted in the data set.
Active Comparator: cryo-ablation plus intercostal nerve block
Patients receiving cryo-analgesia and intercostal blocks, the patient will receive cryo-ablation prior to the intercostal block. The cryo-ablation will occur 2 cm from the sympathetic chain 2 intercostal spaces above and 2 intercostal spaces below the access incision. The patient will also receive a total of 1.0 cc/kg of 0.25% Bupivacaine + epinephrine. This will be divided into two-thirds allocated for use in the chest/intercostal block and one-third allocated for use in the abdomen.
Procedure: Cryo-analgesia and intercostal nerve block
The cryo-ablation will occur 2 cm from the sympathetic chain 2 intercostal spaces above and 2 intercostal spaces below the access incision. The patient will also receive a total of 1.2 cc/kg of 0.25% Bupivacaine + epinephrine. This will be divided into two-thirds allocated for use in the chest/intercostal block and one-third allocated for use in the abdomen.
Other Names:
  • Cryo-ablation
Procedure: Thoracic epidural catheter

The pain service and thoracic surgery attending physician will assess if the patient's pain is not well-controlled using the pain modality they are randomized to. If additional pain control is needed, this will likely consist of a thoracic epidural catheter.

Any additional pain control will be added as an adjunct to the study arm and will be noted in the data set.
Active Comparator: serratus plane catheter plus intercostal nerve block
Patients receiving serratus plane catheter blocks and intercostal nerve blocks, a total of 1.0 cc/kg of 0.25% Bupivacaine + epinephrine will be administered. A total of 20 cc of the weight-based calculation will be reserved for the serratus plane catheter. The remaining local anesthetic will be divided into two-thirds for the chest and one-third for the abdomen. Patients with serratus plane catheters will have an ongoing infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine at 8 ml per hour. The serratus plane catheters will also receive a bolus of 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine with epinephrine on Post Operative Day (POD) #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 by the pain service.
Procedure: Serratus plane catheter blocks and intercostal nerve blocks
A total of 1.2 cc/kg of 0.25% Bupivacaine + epinephrine will be administered. A total of 20 cc of the weight-based calculation will be reserved for the serratus plane catheter. The remaining local anesthetic will be divided into two-thirds for the chest and one-third for the abdomen. Patients with serratus plane catheters will have an ongoing infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine at 8 ml per hour. The serratus plane catheters will also receive a bolus of 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine with epinephrine on POD #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 by the pain service.
Procedure: Thoracic epidural catheter

The pain service and thoracic surgery attending physician will assess if the patient's pain is not well-controlled using the pain modality they are randomized to. If additional pain control is needed, this will likely consist of a thoracic epidural catheter.

Any additional pain control will be added as an adjunct to the study arm and will be noted in the data set.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Post Operative Pain Change Over Time
Time Frame: Baseline (prior to OR) to every 12 hours postoperatively thru Post Operative Day 4.
Compare post-operative pain score changes over time between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Baseline (prior to OR) to every 12 hours postoperatively thru Post Operative Day 4.
Post Operative Pain
Time Frame: Baseline (Prior to OR)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Baseline (Prior to OR)
Post Operative Pain
Time Frame: Post-Op Time 0
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post-Op Time 0
Post Operative Pain Day 1 (AM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 1 (AM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 1 (AM)
Post Operative Pain Day 1 (PM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 1 (PM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 1 (PM)
Post Operative Pain Day 2 (AM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 2 (AM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 2 (AM)
Post Operative Pain Day 2 (PM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 2 (PM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 2 (PM)
Post Operative Pain Day 3 (AM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 3 (AM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 3 (AM)
Post Operative Pain Day 3 (PM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 3 (PM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 3 (PM)
Post Operative Pain Day 4 (AM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 4 (AM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 4 (AM)
Post Operative Pain Day 4 (PM)
Time Frame: Post Operative Day 4 (PM)
Compare single timepoint post-operative pain scores between intercostal nerve blocks, cryo-analgesia, and serratus plane catheters in patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy. Patients will be asked specifically about thoracic/chest pain and asked to rate this pain on a Likert pain scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine.
Post Operative Day 4 (PM)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Swedish Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Brian Louie, M.D., Swedish Cancer Institute

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)

April 26, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 30, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 7, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

June 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 23, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 17, 2025

Last Verified

February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Rib Block 21181

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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.

Clinical Trials on Postoperative Complications

Clinical Trials on Local intercostal nerve block

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Guatemala

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe