An interventional study of Erector Spinae Plane Block in Cancer Pain and Erector Spinae Plane Block, sponsored by Hanoi Medical University. Recruiting at 1 site in Vietnam. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-17.
Sponsored by Hanoi Medical University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
Help build ClinicalTrials.gg — short surveys, remote interviews or testing, in your language. Take part →
Cancer-related pain is a common and challenging problem in patients with lung cancer, often requiring long-term pain management. Conventional pain treatments, including systemic medications, may not provide adequate relief or may cause significant side effects.
The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a regional anesthesia technique that can help reduce pain by delivering local anesthetic near the nerves supplying the chest wall. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of intermittent ESP block administered through a subcutaneous port for controlling cancer-related pain in patients with lung cancer.
Eligible patients with lung cancer and moderate to severe pain will receive intermittent ESP block injections via a subcutaneous port as part of their pain management plan. Pain intensity, analgesic requirements, and potential side effects will be assessed over time.
The results of this study may help determine whether intermittent ESP block via a subcutaneous port is a useful and feasible option for improving pain control and quality of life in patients with lung cancer.
Cancer-related pain in patients with lung cancer is often multifactorial and may be difficult to control using conventional systemic analgesic therapies alone. Regional anesthesia techniques have increasingly been explored as adjunctive approaches to improve pain control while minimizing systemic opioid exposure.
The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a fascial plane block in which local anesthetic is injected adjacent to the erector spinae muscle, allowing spread to the dorsal and ventral rami of spinal nerves. This technique has been reported to provide effective analgesia for thoracic and chest wall pain with a favorable safety profile.
In this study, patients with lung cancer experiencing moderate to severe cancer-related pain will receive intermittent ESP block administered through a subcutaneous port. The port system allows repeated administration of local anesthetic without the need for repeated needle insertion, potentially improving patient comfort and feasibility of long-term pain management.
Pain intensity will be assessed using standardized pain assessment tools at predefined time points. Additional outcomes include changes in analgesic medication requirements, patient-reported comfort, and the occurrence of procedure-related or treatment-related adverse events.
This study is designed to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of intermittent ESP block via a subcutaneous port as part of a multimodal pain management strategy in patients with lung cancer.
310 studies on the registry are indexed under Cancer Pain; 73 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 180 is above the median of 62 across 235 interventional studies indexed under Cancer Pain.
Browse Cancer Pain studies →Hanoi Medical University is the lead sponsor of 54 studies on the registry; 17 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:
Severe coagulation disorders, defined as:
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
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.
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECOG performance status
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
NYHA class (heart failure)
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients receive intermittent erector spinae plane block administered via a subcutaneous port as part of multimodal pain management for cancer-related pain.
Procedure: Erector Spinae Plane Block
Historical control group consisting of patients with lung cancer who previously received standard pain management without erector spinae plane block.
Intermittent erector spinae plane block administered via a subcutaneous port, allowing repeated delivery of local anesthetic for the management of cancer-related pain in patients with lung cancer.
Change in Pain Intensity Measured by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at Home at 3 Months After Discharge
Pain intensity is assessed at rest and during movement using a 10-cm Visual Analog Scale (VAS), where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents the worst imaginable pain. Assessments are performed at predefined home-based follow-up time points after hospital discharge. The primary outcome is the change in VAS pain score from hospital discharge to 3 months after discharge, reflecting the sustained effectiveness of intermittent erector spinae plane block in home-based palliative care. Outcomes in the intervention group will be compared with those of the historical control group.
Time frame: From hospital discharge to 3 months after discharge
Change in Pain Intensity at Early Time Points After Intervention
Pain intensity at rest and during movement is assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at baseline, 30 minutes after the intervention, and at the time of transfer to the ward to evaluate the early analgesic effect of the erector spinae plane block.
Time frame: From baseline (H0) to 30 minutes after intervention (H1) and at the time of transfer to the ward (H2)
Pain Intensity Trajectory During Home-Based Follow-Up
At predefined home-based follow-up time points on days 1, 3, and 5; weeks 1, 2, and 3; and months 1, 2, and 3 after hospital discharge
Time frame: Pain intensity at rest and during movement is measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at predefined home-based follow-up time points up to 3 months after discharge to describe the trajectory of pain control during home-based palliative care.
Morphine Consumption During Home-Based Palliative Care
The daily dose of opioid analgesics used for rescue pain management during home-based follow-up is recorded and converted to morphine-equivalent doses to evaluate changes in opioid requirements over time.
Time frame: At predefined home-based follow-up time points on days 1, 3, and 5; weeks 1, 2, and 3; and months 1, 2, and 3 after hospital discharge
Procedure-Related and Treatment-Related Adverse Events
Procedure-related and treatment-related adverse events are recorded, including respiratory and hemodynamic changes after intervention, catheter-related complications, local anesthetic systemic toxicity, and opioid-related adverse effects.
Time frame: At predefined home-based follow-up time points on days 1, 3, and 5; weeks 1, 2, and 3; and months 1, 2, and 3 after hospital discharge
Plan to share: No
Started Mar 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 18 months after the start.
Of 72 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Cancer Pain, half reached primary completion within 17 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 40. This study's planned 18 months is close to that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 75 studies reached it within 18 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 40.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet 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.
Hanoi Medical University