Parasternal Intercostal Nerve Block and Chronic Pain After Cardiac Surgery (PINB-CPSP)
Effect of Ultrasound-Guided Preemptive Parasternal Intercostal Nerve Block on the Incidence of Chronic Pain After Cardiac Surgery Via Sternotomy: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial
Chronic post-sternotomy pain is a common but under-recognised complication of cardiac surgery, reported in roughly 11 to 56 percent of patients and capable of persisting for years after the operation. Effective control of pain in the early postoperative period is thought to reduce the central sensitisation that drives the transition from acute to chronic pain.
This single-centre, prospective, randomised, patient- and assessor-blinded controlled trial investigates whether an ultrasound-guided bilateral parasternal intercostal nerve block, performed preemptively after induction of general anaesthesia and before surgical incision, reduces the incidence of chronic pain three months after cardiac surgery performed through a median sternotomy.
A total of 132 adults scheduled for elective cardiac surgery will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the block plus the institution's standard multimodal analgesia protocol, or the standard protocol alone. The primary endpoint is the incidence of chronic post-sternotomy pain at three months, assessed with the Turkish version of the Brief Pain Inventory - Short Form. Secondary endpoints cover acute pain scores, opioid consumption, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and complications.
Study Overview
Status
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Design and setting. The trial will be conducted in the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, University of Health Sciences Istanbul Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital. Eligible patients will be identified at the preoperative anaesthesia assessment and written informed consent will be obtained.
Randomisation and blinding. Participants will be allocated 1:1 using sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed envelopes prepared in advance. Patients and the investigator performing postoperative assessments will be unaware of group assignment; the anaesthesiologist performing the block cannot be blinded.
Intervention. In the block group, after induction of general anaesthesia and before surgical incision, a bilateral parasternal intercostal nerve block will be performed in the supine position with a high-frequency linear ultrasound probe (6-15 MHz) and a 22 G, 80 mm echogenic block needle.
Anaesthetic and analgesic management, identical in both groups.
Assessments. Pain is scored with the Numeric Rating Scale at rest and on movement at 0,3, 6, 12 and 24 hours after extubation. Opioid consumption, postoperative nausea and vomiting and any complications are recorded. At three months patients are contacted by telephone and assessed with the Brief Pain Inventory - Short Form, validated in Turkish by Ataman and colleagues.
Sample size. The calculation is based on the primary endpoint. Sixty six participants per group will be enrolled, for a total of 132.
Study Type
Enrollment (Estimated)
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
Study Contact
- Name: Ilayda Kalyoncu Karahan, MD
- Phone Number: 00905325105014
- Email: ilaydaakalyoncu@gmail.com
Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Child
- Adult
- Older Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
Age between 18 and 75 years
- Scheduled for elective cardiac surgery via median sternotomy
- Able to understand and use the Numeric Rating Scale for pain
- Willing to participate and able to provide written informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
- Surgery planned by a minimally invasive or thoracoscopic approach
- Refusal to participate
- Known allergy to the local anaesthetics or analgesics to be used
- Chronic opioid use
- Ongoing steroid or immunosuppressive therapy
- Chronic inflammatory disease
- Active infection
- Coagulopathy
- Infection at the planned block site
- Pregnancy or lactation
- Inability to communicate or to score pain reliably
- Psychiatric or neurological condition preventing reliable completion of the BPI-SF and NRS assessments
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Prevention
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Double
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Experimental: PINB Group
After induction of general anaesthesia and before surgical incision, participants receive an ultrasound-guided bilateral parasternal intercostal nerve block, in addition to the institutional standard perioperative analgesia protocol.
|
Performed in the supine position after induction of general anaesthesia and before surgical incision, using a 6-15 MHz linear ultrasound probe and a 22 G, 80 mm echogenic block needle.
0.25 percent bupivacaine administered bilaterally as a single preemptive dose for the parasternal intercostal nerve block.
|
|
No Intervention: Control Group
No regional block is performed.
Participants receive only the institutional standard perioperative multimodal analgesia protocol, identical to that given to the block group.
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Incidence of chronic post-sternotomy pain at three months
Time Frame: 3 months after surgery
|
3 months after surgery
|
|
|
Incidence of chronic post-sternotomy pain at three months
Time Frame: 3 months after surgery
|
Proportion of participants reporting pain in the sternotomy region three months after surgery, assessed by telephone with the Turkish Brief Pain Inventory - Short Form (BPI-SF).
Chronic pain is defined as a reported pain score above 0 on the 0-10 numeric scale, at rest or on movement, persisting for more than three months after the operation.
|
3 months after surgery
|
Collaborators and Investigators
Publications and helpful links
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Estimated)
Primary Completion (Estimated)
Study Completion (Estimated)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Actual)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- 2026/310
- 2026-18-08 (Other Identifier: Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital Clinical Research Ethics Committee)
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
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