Intra-epidermal nerve fibre density and pain after caesarean section
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Intra-epidermal Nerve Fibre Density and its relationship to post caesarean section pain.
IRAS ID
253735
Contact name
Oliver Daly
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NCT03715075, clinicaltrials.gov registration
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) is a common complication of surgery that can have a significant impact on a patient’s quality of life. CPSP occurs variably with different operations; based on the existing evidence, chronic pain after caesarean section appears to have an incidence between 12-18%.
Recent research has suggested that an individual’s underlying neurobiology may be important in the development of CPSP. Specifically, intra-epidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD)can be used to demonstrate abnormalities of nerve fibres and has been shown to correlate with the severity of pain experienced in certain neuropathies.
To date there have been no studies that have examined the relationship between a patient’s pre-operative IENFD and the development of chronic post-surgical pain. Our objectives are to explore the relationship between IENFD and pain after caesarean section and to explore the characteristics of post-caesarean section pain.
Our hypothesis is that reduced pre-operative IENFD at the surgical site will correlate with risk of developing CPSP.REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
18/SS/0161
Date of REC Opinion
12 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion