Effect of superficial and deep parasternal blocks on recovery after cardiac surgery: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Current controlled trials in cardiovascular medicine 2023-07, Vol.24 (1), p.444-444, Article 444
• Main Authors: Jeanneteau, Audrey, Demarquette, Achille, Blanchard-Daguet, Aymeric, Fouquet, Olivier, Lasocki, Sigismond, Riou, Jérémie, Rineau, Emmanuel, Léger, Maxime
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Cardiac surgery; Cardiac Surgical Procedures; Care and treatment; Catheters; General anesthesia; Health aspects; Heart; Heart surgery; Human health and pathology; Humans; Intensive care; Life Sciences; Narcotics; Nerve Block; Pain; Pain management; Pain, Postoperative; Patient outcomes; Patient related outcomes; Patients; Performance evaluation; Quality of recovery; Questionnaires; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Recovery (Medical); Recovery of function; Regional anesthesia; Single-Blind Method; Study Protocol; Superficial parasternal intercostal plane block; Surgery; Ultrasonic imaging; Veins & arteries
• ISSN: 1745-6215; 1745-6215
• DOI: 10.1186/s13063-023-07446-2

Pain is frequent after cardiac surgery and source of multiple complications that can impair postoperative recovery. Regional anesthesia seems to be an interesting technique to reduce the pain in this context, but its effectiveness in improving recovery has been poorly studied so far. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two of the most studied chest wall blocks in cardiac surgery, i.e., the superficial and the deep parasternal intercostal plane blocks (SPIP and DPIP respectively), in addition to standard care, versus the standard care without regional anesthesia, on the quality of postoperative recovery (QoR) after cardiac surgery with sternotomy. This is a single-center, single-blind, controlled, randomized trial with a 1:1:1 ratio. Patients (n = 254) undergoing cardiac surgery with sternotomy will be randomized into three groups: a control group with standard care and no regional anesthesia, a SPIP group with standard care and a SPIP, and a DPIP with standard care and a DPIP. All groups will receive the usual analgesic protocol. The primary endpoint is the value of the QoR evaluated by the QoR-15 at 24 h after the surgery. This study will be the first powered trial to compare the SPIP and the DPIP on global postoperative recovery after cardiac surgery with sternotomy. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05345639. Registered on April 26, 2022.