Fluoroscopy-guided Versus Traditional Placement of Epidural Catheters
CompletedNot applicableNCT02678039
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, and single blinded study. All work performed at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a tertiary care and level one trauma center for the state of New Hampshire with 28 operative suites. 100 patients scheduled to undergo thoracotomies are randomized to receive an epidural placed (for postoperative pain control) using either a traditional approach by feeling the spine for landmarks or using fluoroscopic X-ray guidance. Randomization is blinded to both the anesthesia team caring for the patient in the operating room and to one member of the acute pain team who follows the patient after surgery and is responsible for evaluating post operative pain control (dermatomal distribution of sensory blockade and visual analog scale) and pulmonary function (incentive spirometer use). All patients receive a standardized epidural infusion with local anesthetic and additional pain medications as needed.
Study details
- Official title
- Fluoroscopy-guided Versus Traditional Placement of Epidural Catheters
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Device: Fluoroscopy
- Procedure: Traditional
- Sponsor
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
- Start date
- 2012-08
- Primary completion
- 2014-01
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 18 Years
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Countries
- United States
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * Patient scheduled for open thoracotomy procedure * Patient provides informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Age less than 19 * Pregnancy * Contraindication to an epidural catheter placement bleeding disorder cardiac valve stenosis systemic infection spinal abnormality * Allergy to local anesthetics or X-ray dye * Patient refusal to participate
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02678039