A Phase 4 interventional study of Ropivacaine injection and Bupivacaine, lidocaine, ropivacaine in Cerebral Palsy, Hip Dysplasia and Pain, Postoperative, sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles. Recruiting at 4 sites in United States. Open to participants aged Up to 18 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-06-11.
Sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment
Pain management in pediatric patients presents a difficult challenge. Unlike adults, pediatric patients often cannot communicate their pain management needs clearly. This is especially true in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), who often have concomitant developmental delay, intellectual disability and verbal limitations. Current literature indicates pain as a common experience for children with CP but has been understudied in this population. Moreover, inadequate post-operative pain control can result in negative physiologic and psychological complications and lead to poor surgical outcomes. Currently, perioperative pain management following orthopaedic procedures in pediatric patients follows traditional protocols that rely on the administration of opioid medications despite their known adverse side effects including nausea, vomiting, itching, constipation, urinary retention, confusion, and respiratory depression.
Epidural anesthesia is a key modality in traditional pain management for pediatric patients with CP given its proven efficacy in decreasing pain and managing spasticity. Yet, administering epidural anesthesia in this patient population poses several risks including damage to preexisting intrathecal baclofen pumps, iatrogenic infection, and technically demanding insertion given high rates of concomitant neuromuscular scoliosis. Alternatively, multimodal analgesic injections theoretically offer an efficacious adjunct to traditional pain management protocols with a lower risk profile. Preliminary data from our study group's pilot randomized control trial comparing the safety and efficacy of a multimodal surgical site injection to placebo showed decreased pain scores and narcotic consumption postoperatively in this patient population. Based on these promising results, the objective of this randomized control trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a multimodal surgical site injection compared to epidural anesthesia for postoperative pain control following operative management of hip dysplasia in pediatric patients with CP.
Over the past decade, there has been an ongoing shift away from the use of opioids in the postoperative setting due to both their negative side effects and their high potential for dependence and abuse. Various new techniques for multimodal pain management are increasingly being utilized in adult orthopaedics, including injection of local anesthetics and analgesic agents. These techniques aim to block pain directly at the site of injection in order to reduce postoperative pain while minimizing systemic effects and preserving motor function, allowing for early mobilization. Numerous randomized controlled trials in both the arthroplasty and adult trauma populations have demonstrated reduced pain and narcotic consumption with local analgesia injection, but there is scant evidence on the efficacy of similar injections in pediatric surgical patients. While robust evidence demonstrating both safety and efficacy of these injections has led to routine use in the adult orthopaedic population, use in pediatric patients still remains limited, likely due to a lack of level I therapeutic evidence.
Local anesthetic injections offer several theoretical advantages over current pain management modalities. When compared with other methods of anesthesia, including epidural anesthesia or some peripheral nerve blocks, local anesthetic injections preserve motor function, allowing for early mobilization and rehabilitation. Additionally, they do not require specialized equipment or anesthesia personnel and can be administered in the operating room without significantly affecting the duration of the procedure. While a mainstay in traditional pain management protocols, epidural anesthesia in the pediatric CP population poses specific risks including damage to preexisting intrathecal baclofen pumps and iatrogenic infection. Moreover, epidural insertion can be a technically demanding procedure in these patients given high rates of concomitant neuromuscular scoliosis. Prior retrospective studies comparing peripheral nerve and lumbar plexus blocks compared to epidural anesthesia have shown mixed results in decreasing pain scores and opioid use in this patient population. As described in Preliminary Data section below, the investigators' pilot randomized control trial demonstrated significantly decreased pain scores and narcotic use postoperatively in pediatric patients with CP who received multimodal analgesia injection compared to placebo while undergoing hip surgery. The present study aims to substantively contribute to current literature by providing level I evidence comparing the safety and efficacy of surgical site injections with epidural anesthesia in a patient population for whom pain management remains challenging.
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This study's planned enrollment of 90 is above the median of 34 across 1,431 interventional studies indexed under Cerebral Palsy.
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The local anesthetic group will be injected with a combination of ropivacaine, epinephrine, and ketorolac.
Drug: Ropivacaine injection
The control group will receive epidural anesthesia. Lumbar epidural anesthesia will be started intra-operatively.
Drug: Bupivacaine, lidocaine, ropivacaine
The local anesthetic group will be injected with ropivacaine 2mg/mL (3mg/kg), epinephrine 1mg/mL (0.5mg), and ketorolac 30mg/mL (0.5mg/kg). The maximum dose of ropivacaine regardless of patient weight will be 200mg. This is based on recommended maximum dose protocols from our anesthesia colleagues. If bilateral hips are involved, the total amount will be split evenly between the two sides.
Drug pages: Bupivacaine · Lidocaine · Ropivacaine
The lumbar epidural group will receive a combination of either/or bupivacaine, lidocaine, and ropivacaine, which will be monitored by the anesthesia team.
Average postoperative narcotic consumption measured in morphine equivalents per kilograms of patient body weight
This describes one outcome measure where the amount of opiates consumed will be expressed in morphine equivalents divided by the body weight of patients measured in kilograms.
Time frame: First 48 hours after surgery
Postoperative pain scores measured by Visual Analogue Scale/Faces Pain Scale/Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability Scale
Pain score assessments will be completed in the post-anesthesia care unit, and every 4 hours following the surgical procedure. Scores will be collected by nursing staff on the inpatient ward and recorded in the electronic medical record. The type of pain score collection will vary based on patient age and level of intellectual disability. In verbal children, either the Visual Analogue Scale or Faces Pain Scale will be employed. In non-verbal children, the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability Scale will be employed. A higher score indicates greater pain intensity. Both scales are from 0 (minimum) -10 (maximum), where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicate maximal pain.
Time frame: 2-4 days
Hospital length of stay measured in days
Postoperative hospital length of stay
Time frame: 2-4 days
Parent satisfaction measured on a scale of 1-5
Parent satisfaction will be based on a standardized, validated questionnaire taken by parents in person at the first post-operative clinic visit aimed to assess their satisfaction with their child's pain management peri-operatively. Each question is answered with a score of either 1-5, with 1 being the best outcome and 5 being the worst outcome. The score for each question will be summed together to come up with a total score. A higher total score indicates a worse level of satisfaction with perioperative pain management.
Time frame: 2-3 weeks postoperatively
Plan to share: No
Started Dec 2023 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2026, 36 months after the start.
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Studies of the drug tested here: Ropivacaine
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