Sham surgery showdown: is MALS release a real fix or just a myth?
NCT ID NCT05468580
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study aims to settle the debate about whether surgery for Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS) actually works. About 70 patients with chronic abdominal pain after eating will be randomly assigned to get either a real keyhole surgery to release a compressed artery or a sham (fake) operation. The goal is to see if the real surgery provides meaningful pain relief compared to the placebo effect.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 70 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2023
- Expected to finish
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Nov 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with a consensus diagnosis of MALS based on a multidisciplinary discussion in the two Dutch expert centers for Mesenteric Ischemia (Medisch Spectrum Twente and Erasmus Medical Centre). The multidisciplinary team contains of a vascular surgeon, gastroenterologist, radiologist as recommended in the guidelines. * Typical complaints: post-prandial pain and at least two of the following: dietary modification, unexplained weight loss, unexplained diarrhea. * Eccentric stenosis of ≥70% of the AC at the medial arcuatum ligament, demonstrated by two imaging techniques (duplex, MRA, CTA or DSA), including at least an inspiration and expiration CTA with 1mm sections. (Definition percent stenosis according to ECST 1998 formula: % stenosis = (1 - \[diameter at the site of stenosis/estimated original diameter at the site of the stenosis\]) x 100). * Ultrasound Abdomen without other more common abnormalities. * Gastroscopy-duodenoscopy without abnormalities, unless appropriate for mucosal ischemia. Exclusion Criteria: * Patient not suitable for endoscopic AC release (e.g. previous surgery in the operating area). * Pregnancy. * Previous (endovascular) intervention of the visceral arteries. * A significant stenosis in the superior or in the inferior mesenteric artery.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Medisch Spectrum Twente
RECRUITINGEnschede, Overijssel, Netherlands