Anaesthesia and pain research at Subiaco

The Anaesthesia and Pain Research Unit remains committed to improving outcomes for patients undergoing surgery. 

Key research priorities are post-operative acute and chronic pain, wound infection and cancer re-occurrence.

The Anaesthesia and Pain Research Unit contributes to large, international, multicentre studies. 

These studies are led by Prof Tomás Corcoran.

• Prevention of Chronic Post-Surgical Pain (CPSP) is seen as the ‘Holy Grail’ of anaesthesiology; it remains a common and debilitating complication of surgery. The ROCKet trial is investigating treatment into CPSP that could provide the evidence to transform routine anaesthesia practice worldwide and improve patients’ quality of life and the associated financial healthcare burden.
• Surgical site infection (SSI) remains a serious and expensive postoperative complication. The TRIGS (Tranexamic Acid to Reduce Infections after Gastro Intestinal Surgery) trial examines an innovative way to reduce SSI in gastrointestinal surgery, and will evaluate the effects on immune and inflammatory responses.
• Cancer remains a major public health problem and despite surgical treatment, cancer recurs in many patients. The VAPOR-C trial is investigating the role of anaesthetic agents in cancer cell survival and immunomodulation in patients undergoing colorectal and lung cancer surgery.

Toner AJ, Corcoran TB, Vlaskovsky PS, Nierich AP, Bain CR, Dieleman JM: Inflammation risk before cardiac surgery and the treatment effect of intraoperative dexamethasone. Anaesth Intensive Care 2024, 52(1):28-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057x231195098

Myles PS, Corcoran TB, Chan MT, Asghari-Jafarabadi M, Wu WKK, Peyton P, Leslie K, Forbes A: Intraoperative dexamethasone and chronic postsurgical pain: a propensity score-matched analysis of a large trial. Br J Anaesth 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2023.12.031

Toner AJ, Bailey MA, Schug SA, Phillips M, Ungerer JP, Somogyi AA, Corcoran TB: Serum lidocaine (lignocaine) concentrations during prolonged perioperative infusion in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery: A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial. Anaesth Intensive Care 2023, 51(6):422-431. https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057X231194833

Corcoran TB, Martin C, O'Loughlin E, Ho K, Chan M, Forbes A, Leslie K, Myles P: Dexamethasone and persistent wound pain: a prespecified analysis of the randomised Perioperative Administration of Dexamethasone and Infection (PADDI) trial. Br J Anaesth 2023, 131(1):93-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2023.03.031 

Gibbs N, Preuss J, Matzelle S, Hansen A, Weightman W: Prediction of hypofibrinogenaemia based on the starting fibrinogen and extent of haemodilution during cardiac surgery. Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 2022, In Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057X221138113