Persistent Pain and Its Impact on Daily Life After Lung Surgery

September 26, 2026 updated by: Aerospace Center Hospital

Pain Trajectories and Pain-Related Functional Interference After Lung Resection: A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study

This study will examine how pain changes over the first six months after lung surgery and how it affects daily life. It will include adults scheduled for surgery to remove part or all of a lung.

The main questions are:

  • How does pain change from the early days after surgery to three and six months afterward?
  • Which factors before surgery and during early recovery are associated with persistent pain?
  • How does pain affect walking, coughing, sleep, mood, and everyday activities?

Participants will complete questionnaires before surgery, during their hospital stay, at discharge, and at three and six months after surgery. These questionnaires will assess pain, its effects on daily life, sleep, and emotional well-being. Follow-up after discharge will be conducted by telephone or electronic questionnaires.

Researchers will also collect information from medical records about the type of surgery, surgical incisions, anesthesia, pain relief treatments, and chest drains.

This is an observational study. The research team will not assign pain treatments or change usual care. The findings may help identify patients who need additional pain assessment and support during recovery.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

350

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

N/A

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults aged 18 years or older scheduled for elective lung resection at Aerospace Center Hospital, Beijing, China, will be consecutively recruited during preoperative assessment. Patients undergoing surgery for benign or malignant lung conditions through video-assisted, robot-assisted, or open approaches will be eligible. Patients with pre-existing chronic pain and those who have received neoadjuvant treatment may participate. Baseline pain and treatment history will be recorded. Participants will be followed through 6 months after surgery to assess pain persistence and pain-related interference with daily life.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- Age 18 years or older.

Scheduled for elective lung resection, including wedge resection, segmentectomy, lobectomy, bilobectomy, or pneumonectomy, through a video-assisted, robot-assisted, or open surgical approach.

Able to understand and answer the study questionnaires in Chinese, independently or with standardized assistance from research staff.

Willing to complete assessments before surgery, during hospitalization, at discharge, and at 3 and 6 months after surgery.

Provides written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Emergency surgery.

Planned concomitant major surgery involving another organ, such as esophagectomy or cardiac surgery.

Cognitive impairment or another condition that prevents informed consent or reliable self-reported questionnaire responses despite assistance.

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

  • Observational Models: COHORT
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Incidence of Chronic Postsurgical Pain at 3 Months After Lung Resection
Time Frame: 3 months after surgery
3 months after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Aerospace Center Hospital

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 (Estimated)

October 10, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 10, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 10, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

October 1, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • THOR-PAIN-2026-002

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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