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Status unknownNCT02555423Updated Sep 21, 2015

The Effects of Serratus Plane Block Performed Under Direct Vision on Post-operative Pain in Breast Surgery

An interventional study of Local anaesthetic - chirocaine in Post-operative Pain, Serratus Block and Breast Surgery, sponsored by Kingston Hospital NHS Trust. Status unknown. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-09-21.

Sponsored by Kingston Hospital NHS Trust · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Sep 2015), so the status shown — last known as Not yet recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of serratus place block in the control of post-operative pain following mastectomy. The investigators will compare one group of patients receiving serratus plane block and wound infiltration to a control group receiving a saline injection into serratus anterior and wound infiltration with local anaesthetic only. The investigators will compare our results to the National Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction Audit's reported rate of 6.2% of patients reporting severe pain following mastectomy to see if there is an improvement of the national standard. In the serratus block group, the investigators expect a 50% decrease in the number of patients who report severe pain day one post operatively.

Read the detailed description

Patients who undergo mastectomy +/- sentinel node biopsy +/- axillary clearance +/- implant reconstruction will be eligible for the study. Patients will be consented by Mr Davies preoperatively in the breast clinic at Kingston Hospital to be randomly allocated to one of two groups.

The study will be double blinded and patients will be randomly allocated in to one of two groups as detailed below:

Group 1 - Control Group The first group will act as the control group and will receive wound infiltration with the full amount of local anaesthetic (40mls) around the drain sites and axillary wound, if present, as is standard practice. They will also receive a 20ml injection of 0.9% saline deep to serratus anterior under direct observation. Infiltration of saline will be delivered into 2-3 muscular slips (typically ribs 4-6) in the anterior axillary line. The local anaesthetic will be prepared according to body weight and a dose of 0.375% of chirocaine will be used with the addition of 1:200000 adrenaline and 1 microgram/kg of clonidine.

Group 2 - Serratus Plane Block Group

The second group will receive a serratus plane block and wound infiltration as described below:

The serratus plane block will be conducted by injecting 50% of the total available chirocaine 0.375% with adrenaline and clonidine (20mls) deep to serratus anterior under direct observation. Infiltration will be delivered into 2-3 muscular slips (typically ribs 4-6) in the anterior axillary line. The remaining 50% of local anaesthetic (20mls) will be administered by wound infiltration around the drain sites and axillary wound if present along with a 20ml 0.9% saline injection.

For clarity, please see the table summary below detailing the volumes and locations of local anaesthetic and saline injections in both groups:

20ml local anaesthetic delivered as a serratus block 20ml Saline delivered deep to serratus anterior 20ml local anaesthetic and 20ml saline wound and drain site infiltration 40ml local anaesthetic wound and drain site infiltration Control Group X √ X √ Serratus Group √ X √ X

The purpose of the saline injections is to blind the trial to the surgeon delivering the serratus block.

The anaesthesia for all patients in both groups will be induced using a combination of 0.25mg/kg ketamine, propofol and fentanyl according to standard anaesthetic protocol. All patients will receive 10mg IM morphine intraoperatively. All patients will have regular simple analgesia such as paracetamol and ibuprofen and PRN opiates (tramadol 50-100mg PRN 8 hourly) prescribed for post-operative adjunct pain management.

Patients will be blinded to which group they are randomly allocated to. Written consent and information sheets will be provided to patients and a letter sent to their GP confirming participation in the study.

Data on pain scores and the use of analgesia in recovery, the use of analgesia overnight, the presence of nausea and the pain score and mobilisation status one day after the operation will be collected. The pain score will be assessed using a standard numerical rating scale from 0-10 to score their pain subjectively where:

  • 0 = No Pain
  • 1-3 = Mild Pain (interferes a little with activities of daily living)
  • 4-6 = Moderate Pain (interferes significantly with activities of daily living)
  • 7-10 = Severe Pain (unable to perform activities of daily living)

Patients will also be followed up and one week and 3 months after their surgery to determine their recovery and the presence of any pain. This data will be collected using the FACT - B: Quality of Life Assessment 1 questionnaire.

All collected data will only be stored on NHS trust computer systems.

02

Conditions studied

  • Post-operative Pain
  • Serratus Block
  • Breast Surgery

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03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,093 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,137 are open to participants now.

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Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Kingston Hospital NHS Trust as lead sponsor.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Female

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients who undergo mastectomy +/- sentinel node biopsy +/- axillary clearance +/- implant reconstruction will be eligible for the study

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients under the age of 18.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care

Interventions

  • DrugLocal anaesthetic - chirocaine
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To assess the serratus plane block's effectiveness in the management of post operative pain following mastectomy when compared to wound infiltration alone

    Time frame: 18 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. To determine the proportion of patients receiving a serratus plane block during mastectomy who go on to develop chronic pain syndromes compared to patients receiving wound infiltration alone

    Time frame: 18 months

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 21, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02555423
Lead sponsor
Kingston Hospital NHS Trust
Responsible party
Marcus Hards (Doctor, Kingston Hospital NHS Trust) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 21, 2015
Start date
Oct 2015
Primary completion
Apr 2017 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 21, 2015
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Sep 2015. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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