Pain Management After TKA: Comparison of Short- and Long-term Nerve Blocks

Overview

The purpose of this study is to determine if there is any significant difference between using a short-term ON-Q nerve block (which is applied prior to surgery and maintained in place until the medication in the initial balls have been fully used, usually 2-4 days) in comparison to a long-term ON-Q nerve block (which is applied prior to surgery and maintained in place up to seven days after surgery). This study will analyze patient reported levels of pain, range of motion, and narcotic use, as well as investigate whether blood loss, blood thinners, and hemoglobin/hematocrit blood levels influence patient pain levels. This study will compare patient-reported pain, range of motion and narcotic use in total knee arthroplasty patients who receive the short-term and long-term combination nerve block (saphenous and posterior of the adductor canal and wide-field posterior knee.

Full Title of Study: “Pain Management After TKA: Comparison of Short- and Long-term Concurrent Saphenous (Adductor Canal) and Posterior Nerve Blocks Using the ON-Q Pump System”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Treatment
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: January 8, 2019

Detailed Description

Post-operative pain remains one of the patient's greatest concerns after Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA). Insufficient pain control can delay mobilization and inhibit rehabilitation efforts. Multimodal analgesia, including peripheral nerve block, is recommended for pain relief, and reaching an effective level of pain management, while minimizing opioid side effects, is vital to a patient's recovery and satisfaction of care delivered. The ON-Q pain relief system continually infuses local analgesia for effective pain relief. This is a prospective, randomized control trial designed to compare the effects of using the short-term and long-term combination ON-Q nerve blocks in connection with TKA surgery. The ON-Q nerve block and pump system provides slowly infused, continuous delivery of a local anesthetic to the surgical site and nerves. The use of concurrent saphenous and posterior knee nerve blocks with the ON-Q system has been adopted as standard procedure at our institute. The study does not involve an alteration to the typical procedures currently being employed. Ultrasound will ensure the accuracy of catheter placement by a regional anesthesiologist. All consecutive TKA patients who meet study criteria will be recruited for enrollment in the study prior to surgery. Pre-operatively, patients will be asked to complete health questionnaires, assessments to measure reported pain levels and location, and range of motion. Home medications will be reviewed, and hemoglobin/hematocrit blood levels will be recorded. Patients randomized to the long-term group will receive education on how to connect the ON-Q ball/pump to the catheter using a demonstration set to show understanding of the skill. Patients in the long-term group will also receive a 750mL ON-Q ball/pump filled with bupivacaine 0.125% for the select-a-flow saphenous catheter nerve block and a 400mL ON-Q ball/pump filled with bupivacaine 0.125% for the posterior fixed rate catheter nerve block to enable the nerve blocks to last up to the 7 days of treatment. Post-operatively, blood loss, inpatient hemoglobin/hematocrit levels, pain medications consumed and side effects, range of motion by Physical Therapy, and pain assessments will be recorded. After discharge, patients will receive daily phone calls up to day 7 post-op to collect reported pain scores, pain medications consumed and side effects, signs/symptoms of catheter site infection, and physical therapy or activity for that day. This information, as well as health questionnaires, will also be collected from both treatment groups at the 2-week and 6-week follow-up office visits. Data will be analyzed at the conclusion of the study.

Interventions

  • Device: Short-term ON-Q
    • single port, select-a-flow pump connected to saphenous nerve block catheter until medication in initial balls are depleted (usually 2-4 days)
  • Device: Short-term ON-Q
    • single port, fixed flow pump connected to posterior knee catheter until medication in initial balls are depleted (usually 2-4 days)
  • Drug: Short-term ON-Q
    • Bupivacaine 0.125%
  • Device: Long-term ON-Q
    • single port, select-a-flow pump connected to saphenous nerve block catheter until day 7 post-operative
  • Device: Long-term ON-Q
    • single port, fixed flow pump connected to posterior knee catheter until day 7 post-operative
  • Drug: Long-term ON-Q
    • Bupivacaine 0.125%

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Active Comparator: Short-term ON-Q
    • Single port, select-a-flow pump and ON-Q 750mL ball filled with bupivacaine 0.125% saphenous (adductor canal) nerve block and single port, fixed flow pump and 400mL ON-Q ball with bupivacaine 0.125% wide field posterior knee block to provide analgesia from surgery until medication has been depleted (typically 2-4 days)
  • Experimental: Long-term ON-Q
    • Single port, select-a-flow pump and two 750mL ON-Q balls filled with bupivacaine 0.125% saphenous (adductor canal) nerve block and single port, fixed flow pump and two 400mL ON-Q ball with bupivacaine 0.125% wide field posterior knee block to provide analgesia from surgery up to 7 days post-operative. The second ball for each location will be provided pre-operatively, along with patient education for connection.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Change from Baseline Day of Surgery Pain Scores at 6 Weeks.
    • Time Frame: This will be collected from day of surgery to 6-weeks postoperative
    • This study will assess patient reported pain, as determined by results of the Numeric Pain Rating Scale of 0-10 while knee is at rest and with active bending movement to determine if there is a difference between the short- and long-term groups.
  • Opioid and Analgesic Use
    • Time Frame: This will be collected daily from day of surgery through day 7 post-operative.
    • Concomitant pain medications consumed while still using the ON-Q nerve block system will be documented, in order to identify reduction/increases in patient’s opioid consumption trends.
  • Number of Participants Who Experience Common Opioid and Analgesic Side Effects
    • Time Frame: This will be collected daily from day of surgery through day 7 post-operative.
    • Concomitant pain medication side effects that are commonly experienced while still using the ON-Q nerve block system will be documented, including nausea, constipation or rash.
  • Patient Range of Motion (degrees)
    • Time Frame: This will be completed at all inpatient physical therapy sessions on day 1 and 2 post-operative and follow-up office visits at 2 and 6 weeks post-operative.
    • Range of motion measured in degrees will be collected. This will be measured by PI and/or Physical Therapy assessments and used to compare whether there is a difference in the participants range of motion between short- and long-term groups.

Secondary Measures

  • Quality of Life – SF-12
    • Time Frame: This assessment will be collected at 2- and 6-week follow-up office visits.
    • Evaluate the patient quality of life through SF-12 assessment score to assess if there is a trending difference between short- and long-term groups.
  • Quality of Life – EQ-5D-5L
    • Time Frame: This assessment will be collected at 2- and 6-week follow-up office visits.
    • Evaluate the patient quality of life through EQ-5D-5L assessment score to assess if there is a trending difference between short- and long-term groups.

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age over 18 years – Able to provide informed consent – Undergoing elective total knee arthroplasty – Able to tolerate both short- and long-term ON-Q therapy Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to provide informed consent – History of dementia or mental instability – Pregnancy

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Maximum Age: N/A

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: No

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • AdventHealth
  • Collaborator
    • Halyard Health
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Sponsor
  • Overall Official(s)
    • J. Dean Cole, M.D., Principal Investigator, AdventHealth

Clinical trials entries are delivered from the US National Institutes of Health and are not reviewed separately by this site. Please see the identifier information above for retrieving further details from the government database.

At TrialBulletin.com, we keep tabs on over 200,000 clinical trials in the US and abroad, using medical data supplied directly by the US National Institutes of Health. Please see the About and Contact page for details.