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Is Tunneling Effective in Preventing Failure of Epidural Analgesia? A Randomized Trial

Postoperative Pain: Is Tunneling Effective in Preventing Failure of Epidural Analgesia? A Randomized Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03706352
Enrollment
200
Registered
2018-10-16
Start date
2015-04-14
Completion date
2017-07-13
Last updated
2018-10-16

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

Conditions

Epidural Catheter, Post Operative Pain

Keywords

Cancer patients, Epidural analgesia, Postoperative pain, tunneling

Brief summary

This is a prospective randomized single blinded study in patients planned to undergo general anesthesia and epidural catheter insertion for pain control after abdominal, thoracic and orthopedic surgery. Patients meeting participation criteria will be selected and enrolled sequentially. The study recruitment will be carried out over one year with follow-up for each patient until either the catheter is dislodged or once decided that the patient is to be discontinued from the epidural pain control.

Detailed description

Study Population and Sample Size The study aims to enroll 200 adult patients planned to undergo general anesthesia and epidural catheter insertion. The study sample will be selected to fulfill the selection criteria. Patients will be selected if they meet the following participation criteria: Planned Procedures and Assessments Follow -up on dislodgments, adverse events, pain and pain relief assessment, standard practice Study Site All study conduction from start to end including procedures and assessments, data acquisition and analysis and final study conclusion report and any publications will be at King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC). Ethical Considerations The study will be submitted to the KHCC IRB for review. The study will not start before IRB approval is obtained. All patients who provide consent to participation in the study will be randomized and enrolled. Statistical Plan Descriptive statistics will be used to present the two groups baseline characteristics. Comparison between groups will be carried out using Chi-square test or t-test or Wilcox on rank test as appropriate. Comparison between groups while adjusting for other variables will be carried out using logistic regression. Odds ratios along with their 95% confidence intervals will be calculated.

Interventions

PROCEDUREtunneling epidural catheter

The epidural needle was used to horizontally tunnel the catheter for a length of five centimeters on either side of the insertion point.

Sponsors

King Hussein Cancer Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

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

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Patient is an adult, between 18-80 years old with normal mentation. * Patient has consented to general anesthesia and epidural catheter insertion for pain control after abdominal, thoracic and orthopedic surgery * Patient is able to understand and provide informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Patient is prone to coagulopathy. * Patient has infection at injection site. * Any Patient seen immediately before surgery-

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Difference in Rate of dislodgment between the two groups5 daysDescriptive statistics will be used to present the two groups baseline characteristics. Comparison between groups will be carried out using Chi-square test or t-test or Wilcox on rank test as appropriate. Comparison between groups while adjusting for other variables will be carried out using logistic regression. Odds ratios along with their 95% confidence intervals will be calculated.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
standard numerical pain score (NPS)5 daysuse numerical pain score from zero no pain and 10 worst immaginable pain
Rate of adverse events5 daysinfection, pain bleeding nerve damage, headache

Outcome results

None listed

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