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.

1. Corcoran, T. B., Myles, P. S., Forbes, A. B., Cheng, A. C., Bach, L. A., O'Loughlin, E., Leslie, K., Chan, M., Story, D., Short, T. G., Martin, C., Coutts, P., Ho, K. M., PADDI Investigators, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Clinical Trials Network, & Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Network (2021). Dexamethasone and Surgical-Site Infection. The New England journal of medicine, 384(18), 1731–1741. doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2028982

2. Toner, A. J., Bailey, M. A., Schug, S. A., & Corcoran, T. B. (2021). A pilot multicentre randomised controlled trial of lidocaine infusion in women undergoing breast cancer surgery. Anaesthesia, 10.1111/anae.15440. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1111/anae.15440 

3. Corcoran, T. B., O'Loughlin, E., Chan, M., & Ho, K. M. (2020). Perioperative Administration of Dexamethasone And blood Glucose concentrations in patients undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery - the randomised controlled PADDAG trial. European journal of anaesthesiology, 10.1097/ EJA.0000000000001294. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1097/EJA.0000000000001294

4. Dubowitz, J., Toner, A., Riedel, B., & Corcoran, T. (2021). The use of intravenous lidocaine for postoperative pain and recovery.  Anaesthesia, 76(5), 719–720. doi. org/10.1111/anae.154005

5. Bailey, M. A., Toner, A. J., & Corcoran, T. B. (2020). A survey of perioperative intravenous lidocaine use by anaesthetists in Australia and New Zealand. Anaesthesia and intensive care, 48(1), 53–58. doi. org/10.1177/0310057X19889367