Identification of C7; Evaluations of 2 Sonographic Methods Using a Transverse and a Sagittal Scan.

Identification of the C7 Vertebral Level; Evaluations of Two Sonographic Methods Using a Transverse Scan of the C7 Transverse Process and a Sagittal Scan of the First Rib.

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03012893

Enrollment

Registered

2017-01-06

Start date

2016-12-31

Completion date

2017-01-31

Last updated

2017-01-18

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

Conditions

Breastcancer

Keywords

ultrasonography to identify C7 spinous process

Brief summary

To determine the accuracy of two techniques (transverse scan and sagittal scan) using ultrasonography to identify C7 spinous process compare to the fluoroscope (standard technique)

Detailed description

To identify the accurate level of upper thoracic spine is essential maneuver during breast surgery and axillary node dissection. Palpation C7 spinous process is most common technique using to identify the level. However, the accuracy was lower than 50%. Ultrasonography has been investigated to identify the cervical nerve roots by differentiating the transvers process of C6 and C7. However, there was no study on the accuracy of using ultrasound to identify cervical spine level before.

Interventions

DEVICEUltrasound sagittal scan

Convex transducer will be placed at patient's neck using paramedian sagittal scan and pointing toward the chest apex aiming to identify the first rib. Then move the transducer medially to identify the transverse process along with identify C7 transverse process will appear on the image as a hyperechoic shadow without continue to the rib laterally. Place the C7 spinous process on the midpoint of the probe and the spinous process correspondence to the midline will be marked as C7.

DEVICEUltrasound transverse scan

Linear transducer will be placed at patient's lateral neck using transverse scan. The unique characteristic of sonography of transvers process of C6 and C7 will be used to identify the transverse process of C6 and C7. C6 transverse process has a very prominence anterior tubercle (known as Chassaignac tubercle). While anterior tubercle of C7 is absent. After identifying the C7 transverse process, simultaneously the color Doppler mode will be activated to identify the vertebral artery for double confirmation.

PROCEDUREFluoroscopic technique

C7 spinous process will be identified by counting down from C1 vertebral body and spinous process.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* healthy volunteer, age \>/= 18

Exclusion criteria

* previous cervical spine surgery, cervical spine deformity, pregnancy

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
the accuracy of identify C7 spinous process	1 day	the accuracy of two techniques (transverse scan and sagittal scan) using ultrasonography to identify C7 spinous process compare to the fluoroscope (standard technique)

Outcome results

None listed

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