Feasibility of the Use of Ultrasound-guided Paravertebral Catheterisation for the Analgesic Management of Thoracotomy

Thoracotomy, is a surgical procedure performed routinely in connection with pulmonary surgery. Pain induced by thoracotomy is considered as the most severe post-operative pain. Control of the pain is essential in the perioperative management.

Nowadays, there are several strategies to support this pain, including regional anesthesia techniques in the context of multimodal analgesia. Epidural analgesia reduces pain scores and respiratory complications significantly. ParaVertebral Block (PVB) is a technique as effective as epidural analgesia in the treatment of pain after thoracotomy and could present a more limited number of complications. However, there is no consensus on the best technique for realisation of PVB.

Para-vertebral catheterisation can be performed by posterior approach in seeking a strength loss after bone contact of transverse vertebral process using the technique of Eason and Wyatt, but it is a blind technique. The ultrasonographic control, developed in the context of all puncture invasive actions, is an effective contribution to the realisation of a BPV, but still insufficiently validated. First used to measure the distance skin - posterior costo-transverse ligament and skin - parietal pleura before procedure, the ultrasonography has recently led to the publication of echo-guided techniques combining recognition of structures defining the space para- vertebral, viewing the progression of the needle and the spread of the local anesthetic. The handling of the ultrasonographic probe associated with the puncture requires additional learning.

The objective of this project is to study the feasibility of para-vertebral catheter insertion under ultrasonographic control. The appearance like "pigtail" of the catheter, the most recently proposed, seems the more attractive in terms of safety. The aim of this pilot prospective study is accurately quantify all qualitative parameters related to the technique in order to achieve a future validation with a medico-economic component.

Ultrasound-guided technique will correspond to a technique with a puncture of the lateral to medial space described by Shibata, after spotting of the first rib proposed by Bouzinac.

This study will be proposed to patients undergoing thoracotomy for total or partial pulmonary resection in Thoracic Surgery service of Centre Jean Perrin, the number of patients required is 60 patients over a period of inclusion of 12 months.