Surgical Positioning of the Arm During Thoracic Surgery -Effect on Shoulder Pain After Surgery?

Lateral Surgical Positioning for Thoracic Surgery -Effect on Ipsilateral Shoulder Pain?

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02149849

Enrollment

Registered

2014-05-29

Start date

2014-08-31

Completion date

2015-01-31

Last updated

2024-01-30

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

Conditions

Lung Cancer

Keywords

Ipsilateral shoulder pain, Surgical positioning, Lung cancer, Thoracotomy, Video assisted thoracic surgery

Brief summary

Up to 85% experience shoulder pain after thoracic surgery, especially on the same side as surgery are performed. Referred phrenic nerve pain is probably one cause of ipsilateral shoulder pain (ISP), and positioning of the arm during surgery another. Studies indicates that ISP can be caused by the positioning of the patient during surgery due to muscle -and ligament strain. Can a change in the surgical positioning (less press and stretch) of the ipsilateral arm effect the shoulder pain after thoracic surgery?

Interventions

PROCEDUREModified lateral positioning.

Right before surgery, the patient are posistioned in lateral position with arm elevated (not more than 90 degree from torso). In the intervention, the arm will be lowered and placed in towards the torso for patients enrolled in the experimantal arm.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Men and women;18 years and older * Thoracotomy for lung cancer * Video assisted thoracic surgery for lung cancer.

Exclusion criteria

* Received treatment for shoulder pain * Use pain medication on regular basis * Under 18 year * Length of stay in ICU more than 24 hours after surgery * Does not understand the native language

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Postoperative shoulder pain after lung surgery.	3 months	Using visual analog scale for assesing pain in the shoulder (Scale from 0-10). Mesauring times: VAS pain related to the shoulder before surgery, VAS pain shoulder at day 1 and 3 after surgery. Further will Oslo University Hospital scheme for registration of pain for location and characteristic also be used.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Pain medication	3 months	All extra pain medication patient use after surgery until day 4, type and dose, will be mesaured.
White blood cell	3 months	Mesaured before surgery, and at day 1 and 3 after surgery.
C reactive protein	3 months	Measured before surgery, and at day 1 and 3 after surgery.

Countries

Norway

Outcome results

None listed

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