Cryoanalgesia and Post-thoracotomy Pain in Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA · Feb 15, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is investigating a method called cryoanalgesia, which involves freezing nerves to help reduce pain after minimally invasive heart surgeries, like mitral valve surgery or atrial septal defect repair. The goal is to see if this technique can lower the amount of pain patients experience after their surgery, especially since many patients report chronic pain that seems more intense than what would be expected from the surgery itself.

To be eligible for this trial, you need to be an adult, 18 years or older, and scheduled for one of the targeted heart surgeries. However, you won’t be able to participate if you have certain health issues, such as chronic pain conditions, psychiatric disorders that affect your memory, or if you regularly use strong painkillers. Participants will be asked to complete some questionnaires about their health and pain experiences. This trial is currently not recruiting participants, so it’s important to check back for updates if you’re interested in joining.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Adult patients aged 18 years or older scheduled for elective minimally invasive mitral valve surgery or atrial septal defect repair.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients will be excluded if they are unable to fill in detailed health and pain related questionnaires, psychiatric disease preventing recall or accurate descriptions of pain, chronic pain syndromes, alcohol or illegal substance abuse, or pregnancy. Exclusion criteria also includes chronic use of opioids, allergy to morphine, bupivacaine, and/or ibuprofen, average pain during the last week \>4 on a numerical rating scale from 0 to 10 with 0 indicating "no pain" and 10 indicating "the worst pain imaginable", contraindications to thoracic epidurals, prior chest surgery, or participation in another clinical trial.