Skip to content

Pre-emptive Scalp Infiltration With Dexamethasone Plus Ropivacaine for Postoperative Pain After Craniotomy

Pre-emptive Scalp Infiltration With Dexamethasone Plus Ropivacaine vs. Ropivacaine for Relief of Postoperative Pain After Craniotomy in Adults

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03618264
Enrollment
140
Registered
2018-08-07
Start date
2019-04-04
Completion date
2020-02-13
Last updated
2020-02-18

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

Conditions

Pain, Postoperative, Post-Craniotomy Headache

Keywords

Postoperative Pain, Post-Craniotomy Headache, Dexamethasone, Ropivacaine, Pre-emptive Scalp Infiltration

Brief summary

A majority of patients would suffer from moderate-to-severe postoperative pain after undergoing craniotomy. As a result, adequate pain control is essential for patients' prognosis and their postoperative life quality. Although opioids administration is regarded as the first-line analgesic for post-craniotomy pain management, it may be associated with delayed awakening, respiratory depression, hypercarbia and it may interfere with the neurologic examination. For the avoidance of side-effects of systemic opioids, local anesthetics administered around the incision have been performed clinically. However, some studies revealed that the analgesic effect of local anesthetics was not unsatisfactory due to its short pain relief duration. As is reported that postoperative pain of craniotomy is mainly caused by skin incision and reflection of muscles, preventing the liberation of inflammatory mediators around the incision seems to be more effective than simply blocking nerve conduction. Thus, Investigators suppose that pre-emptive scalp infiltration with steroid (dexamethasone) plus local anesthetic (ropivacaine) could relieve postoperative pain after craniotomy in adults.

Interventions

DRUGMiscible liquid of dexamethasone and ropivacaine

Intervention in this study will be peri-incisional scalp infiltration with dexamethasone, ropivacaine and normal saline miscible liquids for participants who will undergo elective craniotomy. The local infiltration solution containing 0.33mg dexamethasone and 5mg ropivacaine per milliliter will be infiltrated along the incision and throughout the entire thickness of the scalp before skin incision. The volume of local infiltration solution will be decided by surgeons according to the cut length, and the capacity of the solution will be recorded by investigator.

DRUGRopivacaine

Intervention in this study will be peri-incisional scalp infiltration with ropivacaine for participants who will undergo elective craniotomy. The local infiltration solution containing 5mg ropivacaine per milliliter will be infiltrated along the incision and throughout the entire thickness of the scalp before skin incision. The volume of local infiltration solution will be decided by surgeons according to the cut length, and the capacity of the solution will be recorded by investigator.

Sponsors

Beijing Tiantan Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 64 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Patients scheduled for elective craniotomy for resection of a supratentorial tumour under general anaesthesia; * American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of I or II; * Participates required to fix their head in a head clamp intraoperatively; * Participates with an anticipated fully recovery within 2 hours postoperatively.

Exclusion criteria

* History of craniotomy; * Expected delayed extubation or no plan to extubate; * Participants who cannot use a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device; * Participants who cannot understand the instructions of a numeral rating scale (NRS) 35 before surgery; * Extreme body mass index (BMI) (\< 15 or \> 35); * Allergy to opioids, dexamethasone or ropivacaine; * History of excessive alcohol or drug abuse, chronic opioid use (more than 2 weeks), or use of drugs with confirmed or suspected sedative or analgesic effects; * History of psychiatric disorders, uncontrolled epilepsy or chronic headache; * Pregnant or at breastfeeding; * Symptomatic cardiopulmonary, renal, or liver dysfunction or history of diabetes; * Preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale\< 15; * Suspicion of intracranial hypertension; * Peri-incisional infection; * Participants who have received radiation therapy and chemotherapy preoperatively or with a high probability to require a postoperative radiation therapy and chemotherapy according to the preoperative imaging.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cumulative sufentanil consumption within 48 hours postoperativelyWithin 48 hours after the operationAll participates will receive an electronic intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device in which the bolus dose of sufentanil will be set as 2 μg with a lockout interval of 10 min and the maximum dose will be limited as 8 μg per hour. If the participates feel inadequate analgesia after 5 times of sufentanil bolus, the bolus dose will be increased to 3 μg and the maximum dose will be increased to 12 μg per hour.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
The first time to press the patient-controlled analgesia buttonWithin 48 hours after the operationThe first time that the participants press the patient-controlled analgesia button.
The total times that participants press patient-controlled analgesia buttonWithin 48 hours after the operationThe total times that participants press patient-controlled analgesia button including effective presses and ineffective presses.
Numerical rating scale of painAt 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after surgeryPain was assessed after surgery by a numerical rating scale (0 indicates no pain, 10 indicates the most severe pain imaginable).
Postoperative nausea and vomitingAt 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours after surgeryPostoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) was rated by participates as: 0, absent; 1, nausea not requiring treatment; 2, nausea requiring treatment; and 3, vomiting.
Ramsay Sedation ScaleAt 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours after surgeryRamsey 1: Anxious, agitated, restless; Ramsey 2: Cooperative, oriented, tranquil; Ramsey 3: Responsive to commands only If Asleep; Ramsey 4: Brisk response to light glabellar tap or loud auditory stimulus; Ramsey 5: Sluggish response to light glabellar tap or loud auditory stimulus; Ramsey 6: No response to light glabellar tap or loud auditory stimulus
Respiratory depressionWithin 48 hours after the operationRespiratory depression is defined as a respiratory rate less than 10 breaths per minute or oxygen saturation was less than ninety percent.
Heart rateBefore anesthesia induction, after anesthesia induction, after scalp infiltration, during skull drilling, mater cutting, skin closure and at 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours after surgery
Mean arterial pressureBefore anesthesia induction, after anesthesia induction, after scalp infiltration, during skull drilling, mater cutting, skin closure and at 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours after surgery
The number of participants who have no sufentanil consumptionWithin 48 hours after the operationThe number of participants who have not pushed the button of patient-controlled analgesia pump. Both of the initial dose and background infusion of the patient-controlled analgesia pump in this study will be set as 0. Participates will be advised to push the analgesic demand button if they feel pain.
Patient satisfactory scale (PSS)At 48 hours, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after surgery0 for unsatisfactory, and 10 for very satisfied
The total consumption of opioids during the operationDuring procedure
The total consumption of anaesthetic during the operationDuring procedure
The duration of hospitalization after the operationApproximately 2 weeks after the operation
The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREFAt 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after surgeryQuality of life will be measured using the World Health Organisation QoL-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. The WHOQOL-BREF is a abbreviated version of the WHOQOL-100 assessment. WHOQOL-BREF is a self-report questionnaire that contains 26 items and addresses 4 QOL domains: physical health (7 items), psychological health (6 items), social relationships (3 items) and environment (8 items). Two other items measure overall QOL and general health. Each domain's mean score can range between 4 and 20 and a higher score indicates a higher quality of life. The mean score of items within each domain is used to calculate the domain score. A transformation method converts domain scores to a 0-100 scale.
Incisional related adverse events Incisional related adverse eventsWithin 1 month after surgeryIncluding delayed incisional healing, incisional infection, intracranial infection, scar healing
Wound Healing ScoreAt 3 weeks and 6 weeks after surgerySkin Healing 1: fully healed; 2: ≤3 cm in total not healed; 3: \>3 cm not healed; 4: areas of necrosis ≤3 cm; 5: areas of necrosis \>3 cm Infection 1: none; 2: ≤0.5-cm margin of redness; 3: more redness or superficial pus; 4: deep infection; not applicable Hair Regrowth 1: even regrowth along wound; 2: ≤3 cm not regrowing; 3: \>3-6 cm not regrowing; 4: \>6 cm not regrowing; not applicable
Patient and Observer Scar Assessment ScaleAt 6 months after surgeryThe Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale includes subjective symptoms of pain and pruritus and consists of 2 numerical numeric scales: The Patient Scar Assessment Scale and the Observer Scar Assessment Scale. It assesses vascularity, pigmentation, thickness, relief, pliability, surface area and overall opinion for a scar on a score of 1 (normal skin) to 10 (worst scar imaginable). and it incorporates patient assessments of pain, itching, color, stiffness, thickness, relief and overall opinion. Participants were asked to rate the severity of their scar compared to normal skin. The overall opinion scale score ranged from 1 (normal skin) to 10 (very different from normal skin).
The times of emergency reducing blood pressure after the operationWithin 48 hours after the operationThe criteria for treatment is determined by the participant's surgeon in charge.The times of emergency reducing blood pressure will be recording by the investigator.

Countries

China

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 15, 2026