ArticleJournal of personalized medicine2021
New Thoracotomy Closure, a Simple Way to Decrease Chronic Post-Operative Pain in Selected Patients-Blinded Prospective Study.
Article in Journal of personalized medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pain management after open thoracotomy 2025: procedure-specific postoperative pain management (PROSPECT) recommendations.Anaesthesia · 2026Pooled it
- A Clinical nomogram for predicting chronic postsurgical pain in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.BMC surgery · 2026Article
- Risk factors for chronic postsurgical pain following minimally invasive thoracic surgery.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- Intraoperative Intercostal Nerve Cryoneurolysis for Post-Thoracotomy Pain Control: A Case Discussion.Translational perioperative and pain medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesChronic post-thoracotomy pain syndrome (PTPS) is a very common and uncomfortable complication, occurring frequently after thoracic operations, leading to the necessity of further medication and hospitalizations. One important risk factor in developing chronic pain is the chest closure technique, which can lead to chronic intercostal nerve damage. This study proposes an alternative nerve-sparring closure technique to standard peri-costal sutures, aimed toward minimizing the risk of chronic pain in selected patients. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe performed a prospective randomized study on 311 patients operated for various thoracic pathology over a period of 12 months, evaluating incision types, chest closure technique, and number of drains with drainage duration. The patients were divided into three groups: peri-costal (PC), proposed extra-costal (EC), and simple (SC) suture, respectively. Pain was measured on day 1, 2, 5, 7, and at 6 months post-operatively using the Visual Analogic Scale.
resultsNo significant differences in pain level were recorded in the first two post-operative days between the PC and EC groups. However, a significant decrease in pain level was observed on day 5 and at 6 months post-operatively, with a mean level of 3.5 ± 1.8, 1.2 ± 1 for the EC group compared to a mean value of 5.3 ± 1.6, 3.2 ± 1.5, respectively. No significant differences were observed regarding other evaluated variables.
conclusionsThe lower recorded pain scores in patients with extra-costal chest closure are a strong argument to use this technique. Its ease of use is similar to the classic peri-costal closure, and the time needed to perform it is not significantly increased. The association of this technique with less invasive procedures and short drainage duration limits chronic post-operative pain. This procedure may represent an option for decreasing healthcare costs associated with the management of PTPS.
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Registered trials
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