LOLIPOP Trial (recruiting) | BCAC Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition

This international trial is looking at whether a new way of delivering lidocaine, a commonly used local anaesthetic drug, will help reduce the occurrence of moderate or severe chronic post-surgical pain for women undergoing breast cancer surgery. Nearly half of women who have breast cancer surgery experience some chronic pain after surgery and there is currently no best way to manage this.

LOLIPOP (Long term Outcomes of Lidocaine Infusions for Post-Operative Pain) is a large randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of lidocaine infusions commenced during surgery (mastectomy or wide local excision), and extending up to 24 hours after surgery, on the incidence of moderate or severe chronic post-surgical pain detected one year after surgery.

Waikato, Auckland and Middlemore Hospitals are the New Zealand trial sites and all are actively recruiting. Currently over 1,000 women have been enrolled in this trial worldwide, with 4,300 needed in total.