Central Sensitisation, Electroencephalography, Humans, Hyperalgesia, Hyperalgesia, Secondary, Persistent Postsurgical Pain, Thoracotomy
Conditions
Brief summary
One out of 10 patients undergoing surgery develops persistent post-surgical pain (PPSP). Unfortunately, available therapies for treating this pain have limited success. It is therefore of great importance to find strategies to prevent PPSP. The goal of this project is to find new screening tools that identify patients that are at risk for developing PPSP. Tissue injury and inflammation following surgery increase the excitability of spinal nociceptive neurons (central sensitisation, CS) with pain hypersensitivity as consequence. It is thought that CS plays an important role in persistent pain. The first objective of this project is to assess in human patients if the propensity to develop CS manifested as secondary hyperalgesia before surgery is predictive for PPSP. In addition, we will test if the frequency content of the resting-state EEG reflecting the initial state of the brain will be related to the propensity for developing CS and to the presence of PPSP at two months after surgery.
Interventions
OTHERelectroencephalography (EEG)
recording of resting state EEG using 64 surface electrodes
OTHERquestionnaires
Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) Neuropathic Pain questionnaire (DN4) Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS)
OTHERhigh frequency electrical stimulation of the forearm skin (HFS)
HFS consists of transcutaneous electrical stimuli delivered as 42 Hz trains (pulse width: 2 ms) lasting 1 s. The trains are repeated 12 times. Each train is separated by 10 seconds.
OTHERcutaneous mechanical pinprick stimulation
Mechanical pinprick stimuli will be applied manually by the operator on the skin using a mechanical stimulator (maximum weight 128 mN).
Sponsors
Université Catholique de Louvain
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Scheduled for a lateral thoracotomy as treatment for primary lung cancer * Ability to provide written informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Evidence for a clinically-significant alteration of the skin of the volar forearms * Pregnancy * Having a pacemaker or implanted cardiac defibrillator
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| mechanical pinprick perceived intensity | 1 day before surgery | magnitude of the increase in sensitivity to mechanical pinprick stimuli after HFS |
| area of increased mechanical pinprick sensitivity | 1 day before surgery | spatial extent of the increased sensitivity to mechanical pinprick stimuli after HFS |
| resting state EEG | 1 week before surgery | frequency content of the resting state EEG |
Countries
Belgium
Contacts
Primary ContactEmanuel van den Broeke, PhD
Backup ContactCédric Lenoir, PhD
Outcome results
None listed