Persistent Pain After Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer

The Washington University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Surgery; Pain; Post Operative Pain

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02751346

201509131

Details and patient eligibility

About

This single-center, cross-sectional survey and sensory examination is conducted to determine the prevalence, sensory characteristics and risk factors of PPSP in patients who underwent cystectomy at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital between 2009 and 2015. Based on data from other lower abdominal surgeries, the investigators hypothesize that 10-15% of patients undergoing cystectomy will develop PPSP.

Full description

Currently, open radical cystectomy (ORC) with urinary diversion is the standard treatment for patient with muscle-invasive organ-confined bladder cancer. ORC involves the complete resection of local metastatic disease and reconstruction of a functional urinary tract. Additionally, minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery was shown to be safe alternative to open radical cystectomy. A total of 29,719 patients underwent a form of cystectomy in the United States between 2009 and 2011. Both cystectomy procedures require a midline incision on the pubic symphysis, and as with virtually any surgical incision, it produces tissue injury and inflammation, which result is acute post-operative pain.

Acute pain after surgery typically subsides with tissue healing; however, some patients go on to develop persistent post-surgical pain (PPSP). It is estimated that 21-52% of people who had underwent thoracotomy, 21.5-47.3% of women who had breast surgery, and 4.7%-18% of people who had underwent abdominal surgery developed PPSP. The incidence of the condition varies substantially by the type of surgical procedure, which is also an important factor affecting the mechanism of PPSP. For example, while thoracic surgeries result in predominantly neuropathic pain due to intraoperative nerve injury, in hysterectomies and knee replacement surgeries the mechanisms of PPSP seem to be predominantly inflammatory. However, no data are currently available on the prevalence or potential mechanisms of PPSP after cystectomy.

Understanding the prevalence, risk factors, and the potential mechanisms underlying PPSP after cystectomy will serve the basis for investigating approaches for risk stratification and prevention of PPSP in bladder cancer patients undergoing the procedure.

Enrollment: 383 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age greater than or equal to 18;
• Cystectomy for bladder cancer performed at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital between Jan 1, 2009 and June 30, 2015.

Exclusion criteria

Surveys will not be sent if any of the following criteria exist:

• Patient is deceased or has moved out of the United States.
• Preoperative record indicates multiple surgeries in the abdominopelvic region.

Trial design

383 participants in 2 patient groups

Patients with Pain

Description:

Patients with pain identified through the survey will be invited to undergo sensory assessment by quantitative sensory testing (QST) around the surgical scar and a control area: Thermal (cold and heat) detection and pain thresholds; mechanical detection and pain threshold; dynamic mechanical allodynia; temporal summation (wind-up).

Patients without Pain

Description:

Patients without pain age and gender matched to patients with pain identified through the survey will be invited to undergo sensory assessment by quantitative sensory testing (QST) around the surgical scar and a control area: Thermal (cold and heat) detection and pain thresholds; mechanical detection and pain threshold; dynamic mechanical allodynia; temporal summation (wind-up).