The Effectiveness of Information and Relaxation on Pre-procedural Block Anxiety and Procedural Discomfort During Medial Branch Block

The Effectiveness of Information and Relaxation on Pre-procedural Block Anxiety and Procedural Discomfort During Medial Branch Block: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00901082

Acronym

TIRAP

Enrollment

Registered

2009-05-13

Start date

2009-04-30

Completion date

2012-02-29

Last updated

2015-10-06

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

Conditions

Chronic Pain

Keywords

chronic pain, anxiety, intervention, information, relaxation

Brief summary

Patient presenting to chronic pain clinics frequently undergo diagnostic and therapeutic spinal injections as part of their treatment. These procedures can cause significant level of apprehension in patients, which can lead to increased procedural times, increased procedural pain and reluctance to continue with the treatment program. It appears that certain interventions could reduce the anxiety and catastrophization levels and modify pain perception during medical procedures. The investigators therefore sought to evaluate the effect of a single 30 minutes information session which includes relaxation training administered 5 to 6 days before the nerve block procedure on patient's anxiety and catastrophization levels prior to the procedure and pain scores during the procedure, as well as the overall level of satisfaction with care received.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALRelaxation and information session

Relaxation and information session before the medial branch block

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE (Caregiver)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 70 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* patient scheduled to have a medial branch block * over 18 years of age

Exclusion criteria

* adult able to give their own consent * patients who had a previous nerve block * patients who have a major psychiatric illness * patients who do not understand English or French

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Change in the anxiety level prior to the nerve block as per the state trait anxiety questionnaire	5-7 days (Second visit and Day of block)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Perceived pain as measured by NRS (numerical rating scale)	Throughout the study (Baseline, day of block and 1 month after)
Unchanged catastrophization level	Baseline and day of block
Satisfaction level of the overall experience	Day after the block
Ease of performing the nerve block	Day of block

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026