Development of a Personalised Care Plan Designed to Reduce Chronic Post-Operative Pain Following Breast Surgery
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2018-02-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Numerous surveys have shown that following breast surgery, longterm pain affects around half
of patients. Given that 1 in 9 women will get breast cancer and that surgery is the
cornerstone of treatment, persistent pain represents a major challenge. In addition to the
suffering chronic pain causes to individual patients, the investigators know that it places a
substantial burden on families and carers, and that patients with pain represent an excessive
demand on healthcare resources.
This research will evaluate the impact of introducing a proactive, integrated care plan for
patients having breast surgery. It will assess the effect of the care plan on reducing the
number of patients with pain at 3 and 12 months after their procedure.
The personalised plan involves numerous evidence based steps linked by a single unifying
description aimed at controlling pain, before, during and after the procedure, in hospital
and at home.
Patients at risk of developing pain will be identified prior to the procedure and randomly
allocated to follow either the personalised care plan or to receive 'usual' care. In the
personalised care plan group, participants will get information about chronic pain, be
screened for pain and offered immediate treatment. During their procedure both the surgeon
and the anaesthetist will offer treatments such as nerve numbing procedures that reduce the
likelihood of experiencing pain.
After their procedure, patients will be again screened for pain and further treatment
instigated. Physiotherapists and other allied health professionals such as psychologists will
also be involved as appropriate. A package of care for pain will then be passed on to the
patients' GP, in the form of a written pain management plan, for ongoing care which will be
linked to the hospital. Patients from both groups will be followed up for a year at regular
intervals.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
Collaborators:
Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research, United Kingdom