New pain block after heart surgery aims to cut opioid use

NCT ID NCT06028126

Symptom relief Sponsor: Unity Health Toronto Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study tested whether a nerve block placed near the breastbone after heart surgery can reduce the need for opioid painkillers. 340 adults having heart surgery through a standard chest incision were randomly assigned to receive either the numbing drug ropivacaine or a saltwater placebo through small tubes placed under the skin. The main goal was to measure total opioid use in the first 72 hours after surgery.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: ropivacaine
What this could lead to: If it works, this could offer a way to reduce opioid use and improve pain control after heart surgery.
What could go wrong: This is a completed trial, but the intervention is a local anesthetic block that may not significantly reduce opioid use compared to placebo. Results may not apply to all heart surgery patients.

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

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

340 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Sep 2023

Finished

Mar 2026

Lead sponsor

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

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

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

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 undergoing cardiac surgery via median sternotomy Exclusion Criteria: * Redo sternotomy, or cardiac surgery performed through non-sternotomy approaches (minimally invasive procedures, thoracotomies, mini-sternotomy, hemi-sternotomy, etc.) * Emergency procedures (surgery within 2 hours) * Clinical instability which in the judgement of the investigator precludes enrollment or participation in the study * Weight \< 50kg * Active systemic bacterial infection including infective endocarditis or pre-existing sternal infections * Surgery for infective endocarditis * Pregnancy or nursing * Chronic opioid/narcotic use \> 6 weeks, active use of illicit drugs, long-term opioid exposure or chronic pain disorder/syndromes * Allergies to amide anesthetic agents or any components of study interventions * Inability to comply with, or participate in, protocol (i.e. cognitive impairment/altered mental status/neurological deficit or disorder, inability to provide informed consent, inability to complete pain rating scales, etc.) * Receipt of an investigational drug or device within past 7 days

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Chronic Pain chronic pain syndrome Emergence Delirium opiate dependence Pain, Postoperative

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Anesthesia, local Chronic pain Opioid-use disorder Post operative delirium Post operative pain Post-cardiac surgery

New pain block after heart surgery aims to cut opioid use

What the study statuses mean