Nerve block may ease recovery and prevent Long-Term pain after heart surgery
NCT ID NCT06946290
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether a specific nerve block (intertransverse process block) can help adults recover better and have less pain after elective heart surgery. 96 participants will receive either the block or a placebo before surgery. Researchers will measure quality of recovery at 24 hours and track chronic pain for up to 12 months.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- intertransverse process block (a nerve block procedure)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a better way to manage pain after heart surgery and lower the chance of long-term chronic pain.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase trial with only 96 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The nerve block carries risks like bleeding or infection, and it may not prevent chronic pain as hoped.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
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 96 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2026
- Expected to finish
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Jan 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: * adult patients aged 18 or older * undergoing elective CABG, valve repair/replacement, or combined CABG/valve procedure via sternotomy Exclusion Criteria: * Emergency surgery * redo surgery * history of chronic pain or being on chronic opioids/sedatives * renal failure with an estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤30 ml/min (calculated by Cockcroft-Gault formula) * re-operation within 24 hours after surgery * intraoperative use of remifentanil * inability to provide informed consent.
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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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Prince of Wales Hospital
RECRUITINGHong Kong, Hong Kong
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Ketamine may ease chronic pain after mastectomy, major trial underway
- New combo aims to ease Post-Surgery pain without strong opioids