EffecT of eARly analGesia With Erector Spinae Plane Block to Reduce Ventilation After Severe Chest Trauma (TARGET)

Grenoble Alpes University Hospital Center (CHU)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Severe Chest Trauma

Treatments: Procedure: ESP block

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05920109

38RC22.0273

Details and patient eligibility

About

Blunt chest trauma is commonly associated with rib fractures and early pain management is a key goal after chest trauma. In spontaneous breathing patients, pain limits coughing efficiency and secretion clearance, thereby potentially leading to progressive atelectasis, loss of functional residual capacity (FRC) and, ultimately, respiratory distress. In patients under mechanical ventilation, pain interacts with the weaning of mechanical ventilation inducing an increase of the duration of invasive ventilation. According to recent French guidelines for chest trauma management, immediate analgesia is initially performed by intravenous multimodal analgesia followed by a thoracic epidural analgesia or a paravertebral block if the pain is not controlled within the first 12 hours. However, these blocks necessitate an experienced anaesthesiologist, are at risk of severe complications and are contraindicated in case of post-traumatic coagulopathy. All these considerations limit their indication in the trauma bay. The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is an easy to perform, ultrasound guided, regional anaesthesia for pain management after thoracic surgery. This block can be made continuously with a dedicated catheter for a continuous infusion of local anaesthetic drug with boli. The ESP block is performed by depositing the local anaesthetic in the fascial plane, deeper than the erector spinae muscle at the tip of the transverse process of the vertebra. This block is less invasive with fewer contraindications as compared to epidural analgesia or paravertebral blocks. After chest trauma, ESP block was associated with an improvement in respiratory capacity in a retrospective study. However, there is no randomised control trial assessing ESP efficacy. Our hypothesis is that early continuous ESP block in the trauma bay decreases the number of days with invasive and/or non-invasive ventilation after chest trauma.

Enrollment: 400 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Age > 18 years

Blunt chest trauma with 3 or more rib fractures on Thoracic CT scan

With spontaneous breathing or under mechanical ventilation in the trauma bay

Requiring an intensive (or intermediate) care unit admission

Exclusion criteria

Pre-hospital cardiac arrest

Patient not expected to survive within the first 72 hours

Uncontrolled haemodynamic instability despite initial resuscitation (systolic arterial blood pressure lower than 90 mmHg at the time of catheter insertion)

Mechanical ventilation for severe traumatic brain injury (Abbreviated Injury Score, AIS, head > 2)

Spinal cord injury at the cervical or thoracic levels

Hypovolaemia.

Hypersensitivity to ropivacaine or other amide-bound local anaesthetics

Subject in exclusion period of another interventional study

Pregnant, breastfeeding women

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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400 participants in 2 patient groups

experimental group

Experimental group

Description:

Patients in the experimental group will have a continuous Erector Spinae Plane Block within the first 6 hours post-admission, with a continuous 1ml/h infusion of Ropivacaine (2mg/ml) associated with a 25 ml bolus every 6h.

Treatment:

Procedure: ESP block

control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Patients in the control group will receive intravenous multimodal analgesia in the trauma bay. Thoracic epidural analgesia or continuous paravertebral block or serratus plane block will be performed within the first 12 hours post-admission if the pain is not controlled according to our national guidelines.