Clinical Research Directory

High Dose Dexamethasone to Reduce Postoperative Pain After Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery Lobectomy /Segmentectomy

The aim is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a high dose arm (1mg/kg) vs a low dose (8mg in total) of steroid (Dexamethasone) given intravenous (IV) after the induction of anesthesia to "High-pain-responders" in patients undergoing VATS lobectomy/segmentectomy. The hypothesis is that a high dose of Dexamethasone can lower pain when coughing in the morning after VATS lobectomy/segmentectomy, in patients scoring as "High-pain-responders" on the Pain-Catastrophizing-Scale

QoR40 Between Intercostal Block and Intercostal Block and Serratus Plane Catheter During VATS

Video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has emerged as standard of care for majority of thoracic surgeries. It is less invasive compared to thoracotomy and is associated with improved perioperative outcomes \[1-3\]. Good perioperative analgesia after thoracic surgery will enable pulmonary toilet, early chest physiotherapy and mobilisation, \[4,5,6\]. Thirty-day hospital visits and hospital readmissions at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is around 21% and 9% respectively \[7\]. One of the top five determinant for hospital visit and readmission in 30 days, was persistent post operative pain \[7\]. Several options to analgesia are available for patients undergoing VATS procedure. Systemic opioid based multimodal analgesia, central neuraxial blocks like thoracic epidural and peripheral nerve blocks are different available options, and their practise varies across institution \[4,8,9\]. Thoracic epidural or paravertebral blocks can be challenging to perform with high failure rates \[10-12\]. Fascial plane blocks (SAB; ESP) are in vogue in the present era \[13-16\]. They are easy to perform and do not require similar dexterity as needed to perform thoracic epidural or paravertebral blocks. They have minimal side effects and provide the options for continuous infusion for prolonged analgesia. They have become an effective part of multimodal analgesia and have established their roles in ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) protocol for VATS procedures. SAB has become a common practise at our institution with proved clinical efficacy. Perioperative Surgical Home is a patient centric team-based approach to improve patient's experiences in the perioperative period and thus improve healthcare \[17\]. Quality of Recovery (QoR) is a key determinant to perioperative surgical home and can be measured using the QoR 40 score \[18\]. This is a well validated score with a minimal important clinical difference (MICD) of 6.3 \[19\]. Quality of recovery combines five dimensions of health: patient support, comfort, emotions, physical independence and pain to achieve a single patient outcome - improved patient care \[18\]. The investigators hypothesize the that patients undergoing VATS lung resections using a combination of intercostal nerve block plus continuous SAB catheter infusion of local anesthetics will have a 20% increase in their QoR-40 score 24hour after the surgery compared to a single shot intercostal nerve block.

Comparison Paravertebral and Serratus Anterior Plane Block in Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a minimally invasive alternative to thoracotomy that emerged in the early 1990s, aiming to reduce surgical stress and postoperative pain. While VATS generally results in less pain than thoracotomy, patients may still experience significant discomfort. Effective pain control remains crucial in VATS to minimize postoperative complications, especially pulmonary and cardiac events, which can arise from inadequate ventilation and impaired sputum clearance due to pain. Various strategies have been developed to manage postoperative pain, with multimodal approaches-combining regional or peripheral blocks with systemic analgesics such as NSAIDs and adjuvants-now considered standard. Among regional techniques, serratus anterior plane (SAP) block and thoracic paravertebral block (PVB) are commonly used. SAP block targets the thoracodorsal, long thoracic, and T2-T9 spinal nerves between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles, providing effective anterolateral chest wall analgesia. PVB targets intercostal nerves within the paravertebral space and has shown superior pain control and improved lung function compared to systemic opioids or intrapleural local anesthetics. At our center, both SAP and PVB are routinely used for postoperative analgesia in VATS procedures for patients with lung masses. Pain levels will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a reliable tool for evaluating both acute and chronic pain, unaffected by age or gender. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of SAP and PVB blocks in terms of postoperative pain, opioid requirements, and block-related complications in patients undergoing VATS under general anesthesia. The research is observational and will not alter routine clinical practices.

Erector Spinae Plane Block Versus Serratus Anterior Plane Block in VATS

Pain control remains challenging in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). It is advised to use a regional block to lower postoperative opioid usage. This study evaluates efficacy of Erector spinae plane (ESP) block in comparison to Serratus anterior plane block (SAP) in pain management for patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery(VATS).

Effectiveness of Respiratory Muscle Training with a Mobile Application After Lobectomy

It has been observed that there are negative effects on respiratory muscle strength following lobectomy. This has led to the necessity of respiratory muscle training to mitigate these adverse effects. Most studies conducted so far focus on the late postoperative period, and there are only a few studies evaluating the effectiveness of early postoperative inspiratory muscle training (IMT). It is believed that this method could be useful for facilitating patient follow-up and increasing patient motivation through visual feedback.

Comparison Effects of Three Regional Anesthetic Technique on Pain During Video-assisted Thorascopic Surgery(VATS)

In this study, our iş to compare effect of erector spinae plan block(ESP), paravertebral block(PVB) and mid-point transverse process to pleura block(MTP) on perioperative pain measured with analgesia nociceptive index monitor on video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.