This is a research study designed to test whether a treatment called Intercostal Nerve Cryotherapy is an effective way to help control post-surgical pain for patients undergoing minimally invasive pulmonary resection. There are two treatment groups in this study, a cryotherapy group and control group. Cryotherapy is a method of controlling pain by freezing nerves between the ribs that would transmit pain impulses to the brain.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
110
intraoperative intercostal nerve freezing for post-operative pain control
Standard of Care Pain Control Post-operatively
AHN Allegheny General Hospital
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Total morphine dose
total milligrams (mg) of morphine received during hospitalization
Time frame: to discharge (up to 14 days)
Pain control
Pain level, as assessed by visual analog scale (rating 0-10), with 0 being no pain to 10 being worst pain, with higher scores meaning a worse outcome
Time frame: to discharge (up to 14 days)
pulmonary complications
Pulmonary complications as defined by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database
Time frame: through 1 year
pain control
Pain level, as assessed by visual analog scale (rating 0-10), with 0 being no pain to 10 being worst pain, with higher scores meaning a worse outcome
Time frame: 2 weeks and 3 months post-operatively
total morphine equivalent dose of narcotics
total dose (e.g. milligrams) assessed by the number of pills taken by patients postoperatively
Time frame: 2 weeks and 3 months post-operatively
Presence of neuropathy in the surgical site
physician will assess by modified treatment-induced neuropathy scale (0-10), with higher scores meaning a worse outcome; The modified questionnaire will assess the following symptoms and ask patients to score those symptoms from 0 (not present) to 10 (unbearable): * Numbness at or near the incision site (including chest wall) * Tingling at or near the incision site * Pain at or near the incision site * Hot or burning sensation at or near the incision site * Feeling of coldness at or near the incision site
Time frame: 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year postoperatively
Incentive Spirometer Volume
The highest number (breath volume) achieved on exhalation using the incentive spirometer
Time frame: to discharge (up to 14 days)
Hospital length of stay
Number of days spent in hospital postoperatively
Time frame: to discharge (up to 14 days)
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