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Screening Tool to Identify the Dominant Pain Mechanism in Cancer Survivors: PainsCan

Completed
Conditions
Cancer Pain
Cancer Survivors
Registration Number
NCT03981809
Lead Sponsor
Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
Brief Summary

Development and internal validation of an easy-to-use tool for clinical pain assessment. The tool has to be applicable in any clinical practice and without the need for expensive and complicated hospital tools to identify the source of persistent pain after the treatment of cancer.

Detailed Description

An adequate selection of physiotherapy treatment for persistent pain after the treatment of cancer, depends highly on the mechanism of the pain.

Pain can arise from a damaged nerve or tissue (skin, lymphatic system...). But when pain becomes chronic, alterations to the central nervous system can occur, as regulations of the facilitating and inhibiting mechanisms. These alterations may cause central sensitization pain. The body is now sensitized and cannot distinct harmful from harmless stimuli.

Each type of pain requires a specific treatment, therefore identification of the pain mechanism is crucial. Up till now, expensive and complex tests were performed in a hospital setting to determine if a patient suffers from neuropathic, nociceptive or central sensitization pain. This study aims for developping an assessment tool that does not require expensive devices but can be easily performed by any physiotherapist, within the timeframe of a standard consultation.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
92
Inclusion Criteria
  • Patient treated for primary cancer: breast, prostate, lung/bronchus, colon/rectum, gynecologic (uterus or ovary)
  • Complete remission
  • Curative treatment finished
  • Ongoing hormonal and targeted treatment permitted
  • Patient experiences pain (NRS minimum 3/10 during the past week)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Active metastasis
  • Palliative status
  • Other type of cancer than mentioned in inclusion criteria
  • Pregnancy

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Conditioned pain modulation10 minutes

Central sensitization pain: pain caused by changes in the central nervous system is assessed with a thermal test (2)

Temporal summation2,5 minutes

Central sensitization pain: pain caused by changes in the central nervous system is assessed with a series of touch stimuli (3)

Diffuse pain0,5 minute

Central sensitization pain: pain caused by changes in the central nervous system is assessed by painting affected areas on a body chart (4)

Joint pain30 seconds

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by examining if several joints are sore, especially in the morning (3)

Manual palpation3 minutes

Central sensitization pain: pain caused by changes in the central nervous system is assessed by applying pressure with manual palpation (5)

Passive mobility3,5 minutes

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by examining the movements the clinician can perform on the patient (5)

Douleur Neuropathic 4 questions (DN4) questionnaire2 minutes

Neuropathic pain: pain that arises from a damaged nerve is assessed with a questionnaire (1)

Quantitative sensory testing20 minutes

Neuropathic pain: pain that arises from a damaged nerve is assessed by measuring thermal thresholds (2)

Lymphedema4 minutes

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by examining the presence of lymphedema by measuring the circumference of the arm (2)

Active mobility2,5 minutes

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by examining the movements the patient can perform (4)

Strength1,5 minutes

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by the strength the patient can perform in a specific movement (6)

Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) questionnaire5 minutes

Central sensitization pain: pain caused by changes in the central nervous system is assessed with a questionnaire (1)

Scar tissue2 minutes

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by examining the elasticity of the scar tissue by manual palpation of the clinician (7)

Pain mapping1 minute

Neuropathic pain: pain that arises from a damaged nerve is assessed by painting affected areas on a body chart (3)

Evaluation of skin20 seconds

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by visual evaluation of the skin condition (1)

Axillary web syndrome2 minutes

Nociceptive pain: pain that arises from a damaged tissue is assessed by visually examining the presence of lymph cords in the axilla (8)

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Pain questionnaire30 seconds

Brief Pain Inventory

Pain disability: Pain Disability Index3 minutes

Pain Disability Index

Pain intensity: Visual Analogue Scale1 minute

Visual Analogue Scale at the moment, worst and least pain during the past week

Pain Self-efficacy and Expectations: questionnaire5 minutes

Pain self-efficacy and expectations questionnaire

Pain catastrophizing scale6 minutes

Pain catastrophizing scale

Depression, anxiety and stress7 minutes

Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21)

Pain character: questionnaire4 minutes

McGill Pain questionnaire

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University Hospital Leuven

🇧🇪

Leuven, Belgium

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