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Does Ultrasound Guidance Improve Time to Perform a Spinal or Number of Attempts in Obese Patients?

NCT01680913 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 67

Last updated 2016-11-15

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Spinal anesthesia depends on being able to locate physical landmarks on a patient's body. In obese patients, the commonly used landmarks may be difficult or even impossible to feel. In addition, the spine can be hidden beneath a layer of fatty tissue.

Ultrasound is useful for finding the correct injection site in pregnant patients, but the usefulness of ultrasound has not been adequately evaluated in non-pregnant patients. The potential benefits for obese patients from the use of ultrasound include shortening the duration of the procedure, increasing patient comfort, decreasing the total number of attempts, and aiding in the choice of appropriate needle length for the patient.

The investigators hypothesize that there is no difference in time to perform a spinal anesthetic when landmarking with ultrasound as compared to tactile landmarking in patients with BMI \> 35.

Conditions

  • Spinal Anesthesia Administration

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Ultrasound guidance

The intervention group's interspaces will be determined using the curved linear probe on a Zonare ultrasound using two views.

PROCEDURE

Palpation of Tuffier's line

Current clinical practice. Standard of care would have the attending anesthetist palpate the Tuffier's line to pinpoint the appropriate location for the spinal.

PROCEDURE

Spinal anesthetic

Subcutaneous local infiltration with a 25g needle we be performed prior to the spinal. Neuraxial technique will be attempted midline with a 25 gauge whitacre needle in the sitting position. Spinals will be attempted on either L2-L3, L3-L4, L4-L5 interspaces. The amount and type of local anesthetic/intrathecal narcotic will be left to the discretion of the Anesthetist.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Saskatchewan

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Jacelyn Larson, MD FRCP · University of Saskatchewan

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
85 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2013-01-31
Primary Completion
2013-12-31
Completion
2013-12-31

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01680913 on ClinicalTrials.gov