Ultrasound-guided Block of the Supraclavicular Nerves in Clavicular Fractures
Status:
Enrolling by invitation
Trial end date:
2022-02-28
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
A Clavicular fractures (CF) is uncomfortable for the affected patients because the fragments
are often strongly displaced by the muscles attached to them and the bony fragments move
painfully with every movement of the shoulder. In emergency departments (ED), so far CF has
been tackled with drugs that are taken by mouth or injected into a vein. This type of pain
management has many side effects since these painkillers act systemically.
The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of pain relief in CF to be operated
using regional anaesthesia. For this purpose, the supraclavicular nerves (SCN), which run
directly under the skin of the neck, will be located using an ultrasound device (US). Under
US-guidance the injection needle approaches the SCN and 2-3 millilitres of local aesthetic
(LA) are injected around the nerves. The pain relief may last 12 up to 24 hours, which
bridges the time until the operation (OP).
In order to compare this procedure, CF-patients will be divided into two groups, of which the
control group (20) will be treated with painkillers in the conventional manner and the
intervention group (20) will receive the US-guided block of the SCN.
With the small amount of LA injected, adverse events (AE) are very rare. Nevertheless, the
puncture in the side of the neck may cause bruises at the site of the injection or
uncomfortable, spreading pain. Systemic side effects are unlikely.
In the intervention group, the investigators expect a nearly complete pain relief up to the
operation than with conventional pain therapy and a lower rate of side effects than with
systemic administration of painkillers.