A CLYDEBANK cancer patient has become one of the first to benefit from a new trial which reduces chronic pain following open lung surgery.

Robert MacKay from Clydebank volunteered for the trial at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in December.

The hospital is the only Scottish centre participating in the UK multi centre trial, funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme.

Robert, 64, said: “I had to have part of my lung taken out and was in hospital for around a week afterwards.

“The first couple of weeks were quite painful but after that it’s been great, I’ve only needed some paracetamol now and again.

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“I’m quite active again and back playing golf, so it’s good news so far.”

Researchers across the country aim to recruit more than 1,000 patients across 20 centres over the next three years to test the effectiveness of epidural and paravertebral blocks – both routinely used as a pain relief measure – in reducing chronic pain after open thoracotomy.

Golden Jubilee researchers have recruited 14 patients so far since the start of the year – the biggest amount in any of the UK centres – and aim to recruit at least 72 adult patients having elective (planned) open thoracotomoy who are willing to complete questionnaires about their pain three, six and 12 months after surgery.

Dr Ben Shelley, a consultant at the Clydebank hospital, said: “We’re delighted to be participating in this trial which has been driven by patient requests for research targeting the important problem of chronic pain after surgery.

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“We were amazed that we were able to recruit our first patient so quickly, but that’s testament to what it sets out to do – establishing if an epidural or a paravetebral anaesthetic block reduces their pain more effectively in the long term.”

Alistair Macfie, interim medical director at the Golden Jubilee, said the hospital is at the forefront of delivering technology based research and innovations.

He added: “This trial, which has been designed to meet a request from patients themselves, shows that there is a place for any solution which can improve treatment options and quality of life for patients.

“We are delighted to be participating in the trial and although the results are not expected for around four or five years, we are excited to see what this study could tell us about the impact of these two different pain relief blocks on patients in the long term.”