Central Sensitisation and Postoperative Pain

Université Catholique de Louvain

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Persistent Postsurgical Pain; Electroencephalography; Hyperalgesia; Thoracotomy; Humans; Hyperalgesia, Secondary; Central Sensitisation

Treatments: Other: cutaneous mechanical pinprick stimulation; Other: high frequency electrical stimulation of the forearm skin (HFS); Other: electroencephalography (EEG); Other: questionnaires

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04220697

POSTOP pain

Details and patient eligibility

About

One out of 10 patients undergoing surgery develops persistent post-surgical pain (PPSP). Unfortunately, available therapies for treating this pain have limited success. It is therefore of great importance to find strategies to prevent PPSP. The goal of this project is to find new screening tools that identify patients that are at risk for developing PPSP.

Tissue injury and inflammation following surgery increase the excitability of spinal nociceptive neurons ("central sensitisation", CS) with pain hypersensitivity as consequence. It is thought that CS plays an important role in persistent pain.

The first objective of this project is to assess in human patients if the propensity to develop CS manifested as secondary hyperalgesia before surgery is predictive for PPSP.

In addition, we will test if the frequency content of the resting-state EEG reflecting the initial state of the brain will be related to the propensity for developing CS and to the presence of PPSP at two months after surgery.

Enrollment: 70 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 80 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Scheduled for a lateral thoracotomy as treatment for primary lung cancer
• Ability to provide written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Evidence for a clinically-significant alteration of the skin of the volar forearms
• Pregnancy
• Having a pacemaker or implanted cardiac defibrillator

Trial design

Primary purpose: Screening

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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70 participants in 1 patient group

patients undergo lateral thoracotomy for primary lung cancer

Experimental group

Description:

1. Electroencephalography (EEG) will be acquired before surgery 2. Questionnaires assessing psychological status of the patients before and after surgery 3. High frequency electrical stimulation of the skin (HFS) will be delivered before surgery 4. Quantification of mechanical sensitivity after HFS and after surgery

Treatment:

Other: high frequency electrical stimulation of the forearm skin (HFS)

Other: electroencephalography (EEG)

Other: cutaneous mechanical pinprick stimulation

Other: questionnaires