Paravertebral nerve blocks for analgesia after cardiac surgery

A double blind, randomised controlled trial to assess the efficacy of bilateral paravertebral blockade for analgesia after cardiac surgery

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN13424423

Enrollment

Registered

2015-07-26

Start date

2014-10-26

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2017-07-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Postoperative pain Signs and Symptoms

Interventions

Bilateral paravertebral blockade or sham infusion of lidocaine

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

Female

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Age 40-70 years 2. Undergoing elective and urgent first time coronary bypass surgery

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Critical preoperative state 2. Single graft surgery (no leg incision) 3. Minimally invasive surgery (no sternotomy) 4. Significant renal disease (baseline creatinine >150 micromolar: morphine contraindicated) 5. Patients exceeding 110kg (4% of our operative population practical difficulties of positioning unconscious patients to place the block) 6. Pregnancy 7. Patients with chronic pain taking regular analgesic medication 8. Patients with a significant abnormality of coagulation 9. Participation in another interventional study 10. Patients unable to give informed consent 11. Hypersensitivity to lidocaine

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Morphine consumption using a PCA device	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Pain (measured using ordinal scale) and respiratory function (PEFR) for first 7 days 2. Quality of life, measured using the EuroQol EQ-5D questionnaire at 3 months	—

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

Public ContactGeoff Lockwood

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 26, 2026