CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT01557751Updated May 12, 2023Results posted

Acute Pain Genomic Study

An interventional study of Whole blood for genotyping in Osteoarthritis and Postoperative Pain, sponsored by University of Pittsburgh. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-05-12.

Sponsored by University of Pittsburgh · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
156
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

In preparation for future large-scale genome wide association studies, reliable methods must be developed for measuring perceived pain and for estimating the effects of potentially confounding factors such as appropriate covariates. The major objectives of our pilot investigation are to develop optimal methods to characterize the primary endpoint of the study-knee pain, and to gather preliminary data on genetic markers in the human genome that are associated with a certain pain phenotype. The specific issues for this study will be to carry out a preliminary gene association analysis of acute perioperative pain in individuals undergoing total knee replacement and to define a pain phenotype that is composed of multidimensional domains such as opioid consumption, inflammatory markers, anxiety level, degree of catastrophizing, etc. This pain phenotype has to be sensitive enough to pick up changes in pain experience that can be attributed to single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Read the detailed description

In spite of advances in postoperative management and the standardization of postoperative care, there is a wide variability in the degree of pain relief achieved which cannot be accounted for. The aim of this study is to devise a method for defining a pain phenotype sensitive enough to detect differences in genetic makeup between individuals who undergo a standard surgical procedure (total knee replacement). This methodology will serve as a pilot study for future genome wide association studies. Given the multidimensional aspects of pain experience, the phenotype will be combined of various dimensions comprising postoperative pain. Reports about single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which account for some of the variability of pain, have been reported in the literature using different pain models. To test the sensitivity of our method of phenotyping, the investigators aim to determine if variability in our clinical phenotypes can be explained by some of the SNPs published in the literature. Patients scheduled for elective unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty will be asked to report on various clinical pain variables, fill psychometric questionnaires, be subjected to quantitative sensory testing, genotyped for a genes associated with pain, and additional SNPs. A composite pain profile will be composed for each patient initially examining five candidate genes and related SNPs to find out the SNPs that are significantly associated with given pain phenotypes. Samples will be banked for future study of other genes associated with pain. Other clinical variables will be collected (e.g. opioid consumption). At six and twelve months, psychological questionnaires and pain questionnaires will be sent to patient. A model using pain during physical therapy as the dependent variable will be fit to the data. Knee joint fluid, urine, and serum will be collected from approximately 30% of the subjects who provide their additional consent cytokine and other inflammatory marker analysis. All biological specimens will be banked for future analysis. This is a pilot, preliminary study which will assess patients prospectively and attempt to correlate markers on genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms with patient phenotypes. This method which will serve as the foundation for a future genome wide association study of pain. This is a preliminary, developmental, prospective follow-up study to develop a tool that will be sensitive and specific enough to be used in a large-scale candidate genome association pain study.

02

Conditions studied

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Postoperative Pain

Keywords

  • Total knee arthroplasty
  • Total knee replacement
  • Genetics of pain
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In context

Osteoarthritis

4,397 studies on the registry are indexed under Osteoarthritis; 581 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 156 is above the median of 70 across 3,440 interventional studies indexed under Osteoarthritis.

Browse Osteoarthritis studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Pittsburgh is the lead sponsor of 1,385 studies on the registry; 167 are open to participants now.

Of its 8 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 4 (50%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Age >18
  • Undergoing a primary, unilateral total knee arthroplasty for the first time
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent
  • Caucasian
  • Non-hispanic

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contraindication or refusal for peripheral nerve blocks
  • Any chronic pain condition which may confound the study per investigator's opinion
  • Chronic opioid dependence per investigator's opinion
  • Any diagnosis for total knee arthroplasty other than degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis
  • Evidence of clinical dementia, dementia, delirium, or any cognitive disorder which inhibits the subject's ability to comprehend and cooperate with researchers
  • Revision or any knee surgery that is not a primary, unilateral, elective total knee arthroplasty being performed for the first time
  • Any criteria that in the investigator's opinion would prohibit the subject from following
  • Hispanic ethnicity
  • Any race other than caucasian
  • Subjects with knee flexion contracture (which is clinically defined for the purpose of our protocol as more than 15 degrees of knee contracture)
  • Pregnancy
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
156 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    Total knee arthroplasty subjects who are genotyped

    All patients will have whole blood drawn for genotyping, and participate in the various assessments (psychosocial questionnaires, qualitative sensory testing, etc).

    Genetic: Whole blood for genotyping

Interventions

  • GeneticWhole blood for genotyping

    This study requires genotyping by extracting DNA from blood sample. A blood sample will be drawn once during visit 2 (day of surgery) or any other time prior to that after the signing of informed consent. Four vacutainers of which hold 8.5 mL will be drawn during this time totaling approximately 34 mL of blood which completes the genomic sampling portion of the study.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. NRS-Pain With Movement on POD 2

    The primary endpoint is the pain reported by subjects, using the NRS-Pain with movement on the second day after surgery.The assumption behind this study is that certain genetic variants (e.g. single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) are responsible for part of total variation of certain clinical phenotypes (e.g. post-operative pain here). Numeric Rating Score Pain Assessment (0-10 scale where 0 indicates no pain at all and 10 indicates the worst pain imaginable) on Post Op Day 2, Pain with Movement

    Time frame: Postoperative day (POD) 2

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Results

Posted May 24, 2018

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneTotal Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped
Started156
Completed153
Not completed3
Withdrew: Physician decision3

Outcome measures

PrimaryNRS-Pain With Movement on POD 2

The primary endpoint is the pain reported by subjects, using the NRS-Pain with movement on the second day after surgery.The assumption behind this study is that certain genetic variants (e.g. single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) are responsible for part of total variation of certain clinical phenotypes (e.g. post-operative pain here). Numeric Rating Score Pain Assessment (0-10 scale where 0 indicates no pain at all and 10 indicates the worst pain imaginable) on Post Op Day 2, Pain with Movement

Time frame:
Postoperative day (POD) 2
Reported as:
Mean · units on a scale
NRS-Pain With Movement on POD 2
units on a scaleTotal Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped
NRS-Pain With Movement on POD 22.83 (0 to 10)

Adverse events

Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Total Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped0/156 (0%)0/156 (0%)0/156 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)Total Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped
<=18 years0
Between 18 and 65 years92
>=65 years64
Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Total Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped
Mean64.23 (40 to 88)
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Total Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped
Female90
Male66
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(Participants)Total Knee Arthroplasty Subjects Who Are Genotyped
United States156
08

Study locations

1 site
  • UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15232, United States
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Belfer I, Wu T, Kingman A, Krishnaraju RK, Goldman D, Max MB. Candidate gene studies of human pain mechanisms: methods for optimizing choice of polymorphisms and sample size. Anesthesiology. 2004 Jun;100(6):1562-72. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200406000-00032. No abstract available. PubMed 15166579 ↗
  • Tegeder I, Costigan M, Griffin RS, Abele A, Belfer I, Schmidt H, Ehnert C, Nejim J, Marian C, Scholz J, Wu T, Allchorne A, Diatchenko L, Binshtok AM, Goldman D, Adolph J, Sama S, Atlas SJ, Carlezon WA, Parsegian A, Lotsch J, Fillingim RB, Maixner W, Geisslinger G, Max MB, Woolf CJ. GTP cyclohydrolase and tetrahydrobiopterin regulate pain sensitivity and persistence. Nat Med. 2006 Nov;12(11):1269-77. doi: 10.1038/nm1490. Epub 2006 Oct 22. PubMed 17057711 ↗
  • Buvanendran A, Kroin JS, Berger RA, Hallab NJ, Saha C, Negrescu C, Moric M, Caicedo MS, Tuman KJ. Upregulation of prostaglandin E2 and interleukins in the central nervous system and peripheral tissue during and after surgery in humans. Anesthesiology. 2006 Mar;104(3):403-10. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200603000-00005. Erratum In: Anesthesiology. 2006 Apr;104(4):900. PubMed 16508385 ↗
  • Tegeder I, Adolph J, Schmidt H, Woolf CJ, Geisslinger G, Lotsch J. Reduced hyperalgesia in homozygous carriers of a GTP cyclohydrolase 1 haplotype. Eur J Pain. 2008 Nov;12(8):1069-77. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpain.2008.02.004. Epub 2008 Apr 18. PubMed 18374612 ↗
  • Silverman DG, O'Connor TZ, Brull SJ. Integrated assessment of pain scores and rescue morphine use during studies of analgesic efficacy. Anesth Analg. 1993 Jul;77(1):168-70. No abstract available. PubMed 8317727 ↗
  • Rolke R, Baron R, Maier C, Tolle TR, Treede -DR, Beyer A, Binder A, Birbaumer N, Birklein F, Botefur IC, Braune S, Flor H, Huge V, Klug R, Landwehrmeyer GB, Magerl W, Maihofner C, Rolko C, Schaub C, Scherens A, Sprenger T, Valet M, Wasserka B. Quantitative sensory testing in the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS): standardized protocol and reference values. Pain. 2006 Aug;123(3):231-243. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.01.041. Epub 2006 May 11. Erratum In: Pain. 2006 Nov;125(1-2):197. PubMed 16697110 ↗
  • Reynolds LW, Hoo RK, Brill RJ, North J, Recker DP, Verburg KM. The COX-2 specific inhibitor, valdecoxib, is an effective, opioid-sparing analgesic in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2003 Feb;25(2):133-41. doi: 10.1016/s0885-3924(02)00637-1. PubMed 12590029 ↗
  • Max MB, Stewart WF. The molecular epidemiology of pain: a new discipline for drug discovery. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2008 Aug;7(8):647-58. doi: 10.1038/nrd2595. Epub 2008 Jun 27. PubMed 18587382 ↗
  • Khan AA, Owatz CB, Schindler WG, Schwartz SA, Keiser K, Hargreaves KM. Measurement of mechanical allodynia and local anesthetic efficacy in patients with irreversible pulpitis and acute periradicular periodontitis. J Endod. 2007 Jul;33(7):796-9. doi: 10.1016/j.joen.2007.01.021. Epub 2007 Mar 26. PubMed 17804314 ↗
  • Kalff JC, Turler A, Schwarz NT, Schraut WH, Lee KK, Tweardy DJ, Billiar TR, Simmons RL, Bauer AJ. Intra-abdominal activation of a local inflammatory response within the human muscularis externa during laparotomy. Ann Surg. 2003 Mar;237(3):301-15. doi: 10.1097/01.SLA.0000055742.79045.7E. PubMed 12616113 ↗
  • Gueorguieva RV, Sanacora G. Joint analysis of repeatedly observed continuous and ordinal measures of disease severity. Stat Med. 2006 Apr 30;25(8):1307-22. doi: 10.1002/sim.2270. PubMed 16217846 ↗
  • Granot M, Ferber SG. The roles of pain catastrophizing and anxiety in the prediction of postoperative pain intensity: a prospective study. Clin J Pain. 2005 Sep-Oct;21(5):439-45. doi: 10.1097/01.ajp.0000135236.12705.2d. PubMed 16093750 ↗
  • Dionne RA, Berthold CW. Therapeutic uses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in dentistry. Crit Rev Oral Biol Med. 2001;12(4):315-30. doi: 10.1177/10454411010120040301. PubMed 11603504 ↗
  • Dina OA, Hucho T, Yeh J, Malik-Hall M, Reichling DB, Levine JD. Primary afferent second messenger cascades interact with specific integrin subunits in producing inflammatory hyperalgesia. Pain. 2005 May;115(1-2):191-203. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2005.02.028. PubMed 15836982 ↗
  • Curatolo M, Petersen-Felix S, Arendt-Nielsen L. Sensory assessment of regional analgesia in humans: a review of methods and applications. Anesthesiology. 2000 Dec;93(6):1517-30. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200012000-00025. No abstract available. PubMed 11149448 ↗
  • Chan VW, Clark AJ, Davis JC, Wolf RS, Kellstein D, Jayawardene S. The post-operative analgesic efficacy and tolerability of lumiracoxib compared with placebo and naproxen after total knee or hip arthroplasty. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2005 Nov;49(10):1491-500. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-6576.2005.00782.x. PubMed 16223396 ↗
  • Belfer I, Greco CM, Lokshin A, Vulakovich K, Landsittel D, Dai F, Crossett L, Chelly JE. The design and methods of genetic studies on acute and chronic postoperative pain in patients after total knee replacement. Pain Med. 2014 Sep;15(9):1590-602. doi: 10.1111/pme.12487. Epub 2014 Jul 8. PubMed 25040948 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 12, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01557751
Lead sponsor
University of Pittsburgh
Collaborators
National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Responsible party
Jacques E. Chelly (Professor of Anesthesiology (with Tenure) and Orthopedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 19, 2012
Start date
Feb 2010
Primary completion
Apr 8, 2011
Completion
Apr 8, 2012
Results posted
May 24, 2018
Last update
May 12, 2023

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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