Randomized Clinical Trial of Rib Fixation Versus Medical Analgesia in Uncomplicated Rib Fractures on Pain Control.

NCT ID: NCT04745520

Last Updated: 2025-01-20

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 102 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-03-12
• Study Completion Date: 2024-09-16

Brief Summary

Uncomplicated costal fractures often result in persistent pain over the long term. Indeed, cohort studies showed that at 6 months, 22% of patients still had pain and 56% had functional disability. The impact of costal fractures on quality of life is underestimated. The socio-psycho-economic consequences are substantial.

Previous studies have shown that an important factor for persistent pain and functional disability is the intensity of the initial pain. However, preliminary studies have shown promising results with surgical fixation of rib fractures: reduced need for analgesic drugs, reduced pain at 1 month, reduced complications and improved motor skills in patients over 65 years of age.

To date, the only clinical trials that exist focused on the fixation of complicated rib dislocations. While fixation of uncomplicated rib fractures is a common practice, no randomized studies have been conducted to evaluate its impact on pain and quality of life in the medium and long term.

In this context, the aim of our randomized study is to compare pain at 2 months between operated and non-operated patients with uncomplicated rib fractures.

Detailed Description

Background. Until recently, functional disability and chronic pain and following uncomplicated rib fractures have been scarcely studied. Studies described persistent pain and disability in, respectively, 59% and 76% of patients at two months, and in 22% and 53% of patients at 6 months. In a retrospective study including 216 patients with an isolated thoracic injury, only 34.2% of patients had a good recovery at one year and the six-month return to work rate is of 63%. Persistent pain and disability following rib fractures therefore result in a large psycho-socio-economic impact for health-care system. The only predictive factor for persistent pain and disability is the pain intensity within the first few days after injury. Similarly, the intensity of pain within the first days after thoracotomy predicts long-term post-thoracotomy pain. In a recent meta-analysis, epidural analgesia provides better acute pain relief than intravenous, paravertebral, and intercostal interventions. While meta-analyses conclude that operative fixation of complicated flail chest provide better outcome, the impact of surgery on pain in uncomplicated rib fracture is seldom studied. Some retrospective studies showed promising results of rib fixation with surgery in patients with uncomplicated rib fractures: A study showed that rib fixation reduced postoperative analgesic requirements. Similarly, another study showed that pain was significantly reduced one month after surgery as compared to a non-surgical approach. Finally, it has been recently observed a decreased mortality and respiratory complications after surgery in patients over 65 years old as well as a better functional status at two weeks, two months, and four months.

Trial objectives. No previous studies have provided definitive evidence for recommending rib fixation over simple pain medication to control pain. Our hypothesis is that a surgical approach may have further benefits as compared to a conservative treatment. The primary objective of the study is to compare pain two months after injury between two groups: group 1) patients who are treated with surgery and analgesic treatment; and group 2) patients who are treated with analgesic treatment alone. The secondary objective is to perform a longitudinal analysis over one year of the following parameters: amount of pain medication, quality of life, anxiety and depression, pulmonary capacity, return to work, and adverse events. Financial aspects are also investigated.

Conditions

Rib Fractures

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Rib fixation (medical devices)

Surgery and pain medication. The pain of patients will be treated with rib fixation and pain medication.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Rib fixation

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Rib fixation is performed by a senior surgeon. The patient is under general anesthesia. A thoracotomy focused on the fracture is performed to optimize access to the rib to be repaired. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) can be performed to better localize rib fractures. Significant muscle division is avoided. Removal of the periosteum is not required. The broken rib segments are approximated with forceps and the medical devices are used to fix the fracture. The medical devices are implemented according to the manufacturers' recommendations. The goal is to stabilize the chest wall. It is not useful to fix all fractures to stabilize the wall. A chest tube can be placed at the end of the operation.

Medical devices

The following medical devices can be used:

• MatrixRIB™, De Puy Synthes Companies, Zuchwill, Switzerland
• STRATOS™, MedXpert GmbH, Heitersheim, Germany
• NiTi Fixing PlatesTM, IAWAI, Yandzhou, China

Analgesia

Intervention Type: DRUG

Epidural analgesia is continuing for 24 to 72 hours post-randomization to maximize outcome benefits. Afterwards, paracetamol, NSAID and/or opioid treatment are used according to pain severity. In case of opioid use, morphine treatment is preferred. However, other opioid drugs or doses can be considered to better customize the treatment.

Pain medication (comparator treatment)

Pain medication only.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Analgesia

Intervention Type: DRUG

Epidural analgesia is continuing for 24 to 72 hours post-randomization to maximize outcome benefits. Afterwards, paracetamol, NSAID and/or opioid treatment are used according to pain severity. In case of opioid use, morphine treatment is preferred. However, other opioid drugs or doses can be considered to better customize the treatment.

Interventions

Rib fixation

Rib fixation is performed by a senior surgeon. The patient is under general anesthesia. A thoracotomy focused on the fracture is performed to optimize access to the rib to be repaired. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) can be performed to better localize rib fractures. Significant muscle division is avoided. Removal of the periosteum is not required. The broken rib segments are approximated with forceps and the medical devices are used to fix the fracture. The medical devices are implemented according to the manufacturers' recommendations. The goal is to stabilize the chest wall. It is not useful to fix all fractures to stabilize the wall. A chest tube can be placed at the end of the operation.

Medical devices

The following medical devices can be used:

• MatrixRIB™, De Puy Synthes Companies, Zuchwill, Switzerland
• STRATOS™, MedXpert GmbH, Heitersheim, Germany
• NiTi Fixing PlatesTM, IAWAI, Yandzhou, China

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Analgesia

Epidural analgesia is continuing for 24 to 72 hours post-randomization to maximize outcome benefits. Afterwards, paracetamol, NSAID and/or opioid treatment are used according to pain severity. In case of opioid use, morphine treatment is preferred. However, other opioid drugs or doses can be considered to better customize the treatment.

Intervention Type: DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• At least 2 rib fractures
• At least 1 dislocated rib fracture
• Fractures accessible to surgery
• Thoracic trauma no more than two days prior to screening for inclusion
• Thoracic epidural analgesia
• Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

• Any other concomitant fractures excepted clavicle fracture
• Respiratory distress syndrome according to the Berlin definition
• Presence of >1.5 liter of blood drained from the pleural space
• Hemostasis disorder defined by any of the following criteria:

• Platelet count < 70'000/mm3,
• International Normalized Ratio (INR) > 1.2 (Prothrombin < 70%)
• activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) ≥ 60 seconds
• drugs such as: P2Y12 antagonists (clopidogrel, prasugrel) and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists (abciximab, tirofiban)
• Pathological rib fracture due to metastasis
• Hemodynamic instability: systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg and heart rate > 100 beats per minute
• Neurologic disorder: Glasgow Coma Score < 13 in the initial 24 hours, or intracerebral, epidural, subdural, or subarachnoid hemorrhages, or cerebral contusion
• Titanium allergy
• Known or suspected non-compliance to medical therapy due to drug or alcohol abuse
• Age <18 years old
• Women who know they are pregnant or breast feeding
• Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia, etc.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Hôpital du Valais

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Benoît Bédat

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Benoît Bédat

Fellow

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Benoît Bédat, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Hospital, Geneva

Frédéric Triponez, Prof.

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

University Hospital, Geneva

Locations

Unit of Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery, University Hospitals of Geneva

Geneva, , Switzerland

Countries

Switzerland

References

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

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Perentes JY, Christodoulou M, Abdelnour-Berchtold E, Karenovics W, Gayet-Ageron A, Gonzalez M, Krueger T, Triponez F, Terrier P, Bedat B. Effectiveness of rib fixation compared to pain medication alone on pain control in patients with uncomplicated rib fractures: study protocol of a pragmatic multicenter randomized controlled trial-the PAROS study (Pain After Rib OSteosynthesis). Trials. 2022 Sep 2;23(1):732. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06509-0.

Reference Type: DERIVED

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Other Identifiers

2019-01688

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id