An interventional study of Ultrasound guided Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) bock and Local anaesthetic infiltration of laparoscopic port sites in Acute Appendicitis, sponsored by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. Withdrawn at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 16 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-06-16.
Sponsored by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Laparoscopic (key-hole) appendicectomy is a minimally invasive procedure when compared to open large bowel resection, but is still associated with a significant amount of pain and discomfort. Analgesia is commonly provided by a multi-modal technique involving varying combinations of paracetamol, Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), regional analgesia and oral or parenteral opioids. Opioids are associated with an increased incidence of nausea, vomiting and sedation which can complicate post-operative recovery. Different techniques of intraoperative infiltration of local anaesthetic to control postoperative pain are also being used. Their perceived benefits are thought to relate to reduced opioid consumption and therefore reduced opioid side effects.
Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block is a technique which numbs the nerves carrying pain sensation from the abdominal wall and provides effective and safe analgesia with minimal systemic side effects. Their perceived benefits are thought to relate to reduced opioid consumption and therefore reduced opioid side effects. The investigators believe ultrasound guided TAP blocks will reduce pain and morphine consumption with a resultant improved patient satisfaction, a reduction in post-operative nausea and vomiting and earlier hospital discharge.
The key research question the investigators are trying to answer is whether TAP block provide better pain relief than local anaesthetic infiltration of the laparoscopic port sites. Both techniques are currently being used in the investigator's hospital.
Summary of Study Design: The study will be a double blind randomised controlled trial with patients undergoing laparoscopic appendicectomy randomly allocated into two groups. The study group will receive bilateral TAP blocks and the control group will receive local anaesthetic infiltration of the laparoscopic port sites
A double blind design was chosen to eliminate patient and observer bias in reporting of pain scores.
The presence of the control arm will ensure that any difference observed will be due to the effect of sensory nerve block due to the TAP block than due to the systemic effect of the injected local anaesthetic.
The null hypothesis will be that there is no difference between the groups in the amount of opioids consumed by the patients during 24 hours after the operation. The investigators chose this measurement as an objective but indirect measurement of efficacy of TAP block and pain relief thus received. Measurement of pain with various scoring methods are reliable only when concurrent reduction in consumption of pain killers are demonstrated.
Recruitment and randomisation:
All patients meeting the inclusion criteria will receive a patient information leaflet about the study during the procedure and investigators will gain informed consent during the procedure consultation. Investigators aim to recruit 288 patients with 144 patients in each group.
Informed consent will be taken the evening before, or on the morning of, surgery. Patients will then be randomly allocated into either the study group or a control group. Randomisation will occur by using computer generated random numbers using the block randomisation method. Group allocation will be kept in a consecutively numbered, opaque, sealed envelope in the controlled drugs cupboard in theatre-4/emergency theatre anaesthetic room of the John Radcliffe Hospital. Once the patient has consented, the anaesthetist will open the corresponding numbered envelope and perform bilateral TAP blocks after induction of general anaesthesia if the patient is in the study group. The surgeons will infiltrate the port sites with local anaesthetic at the end of the procedure if the patient is in the control group.
Blinding:
The study group will receive bilateral TAP blocks with 20mls 0.25% bupivacaine on each side and the skin punctures on either sides will be covered with a small plaster. Patients in the control group will receive subcutaneous infiltration of the laparoscopic port sites and specimen extraction site with equivalent amount bupivacaine at the end of the procedure and small plasters will be stuck on either flanks approximately where the skin punctures for TAP block will be made.
The assessor of pain scores and morphine doses (Recovery nurse, Ward Nursing Staff \& SEU Foundation Doctor) and the patient will be blinded to group allocation.
Patient: Plasters will be stuck on flanks of all the patients, both study and control group, so that patient will not know if they have received TAP block.
Recovery nurse: During handover to recovery the anaesthetist and scrub nurse will not mention group allocation.
SEU Foundation Doctor: The foundation doctor who will be following up patients on the ward will not be present in the operating theatre, ensuring that they are blinded to the technique used.
The study duration will be from induction of anaesthesia until the patients are medically fit for discharge from hospital. No extra visits other than routinely required for the surgical procedure are expected.
419 studies on the registry are indexed under Appendicitis; 67 are open to participants now.
Browse Appendicitis studies →Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust is the lead sponsor of 94 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients in this arm will receive ultrasound guided TAP bock with Bupivacaine 0.25% 20ml per side or to a maximum 1mg/kg per side and the skin puncture will be covered with a small plaster
Procedure: Ultrasound guided Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) bock
Laparoscopic port sites will be infiltrated with a total of 20 mls 0.5% bupivacaine subcutaneously at the end of the procedure in the control group and plasters will be stuck on either side approximately where a skin puncture for tap block would be made.
Procedure: Local anaesthetic infiltration of laparoscopic port sites
Ultrasound guided TAP bock with Bupivacaine 0.25% 20ml per side or to a maximum 1mg/kg per side and the skin puncture will be covered with a small plaster
Laparoscopic port sites will be infiltrated with a total of 20 mls 0.5% bupivacaine subcutaneously at the end of the procedure in the control group and plasters will be stuck on either side approximately where a skin puncture for tap block would be made.
Opioid consumption in the first 12 hours after the operation
The primary endpoint will be consumption of morphine or other opioids (including tramadol) in the first 12 hours after the operation. This will be recorded from the drug chart. Morphine equivalents include fentanyl, codeine and tramadol and will be converted into total morphine consumption using recognised conversion ratios.
Time frame: 12 hours
Numerical rating pain scores at emergence, 6, 12, 24 hours postoperatively
Time frame: 24 hours after the operation
Time to first request for rescue analgesia
The time will be calculated from the drug chart looking up when the first dose of rescue opioid was administered
Time frame: 24 hours after the operation
Nausea score at emergence, 6, 12, 24 hours postoperatively
Time frame: 24 hours after the operation
Total length of hospital stay
Time will be calculated from the medical notes, when the decision that the patient is medically fit to be discharged was made
Time frame: After the operation patients will be followed up till they are medically fit to be discharged from the hospital an expected length of 1-5 days
Opioid consumption at 24 hours
Consumption of morphine or other opioids (including tramadol) in the first 24 hours after the operation. This will be recorded from the drug chart. Morphine equivalents include fentanyl, codeine and tramadol and will be converted into total morphine consumption using recognised conversion ratios
Time frame: 24 hours after the operation
The record gives a start of Aug 2014, a primary completion of Aug 2014 and a completion of Aug 2014. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is withdrawn, as verified in Jun 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust