Evaluation of Trigeminal Nerve Blockade

July 20, 2026 updated by: University of Florida

Evaluation of Trigeminal Nerve Blockade in the Pterygopalatine Fossa for Cleft Palate Repair: a Pilot Study

Cleft palate repair requires high doses of opioids for pain control postop. An alternative approach is placement of nerve blocks in the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally, blocking the maxillary nerve & covering the entire midface. Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve may provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving time to oral intake, pain control and time to hospital discharge.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Cleft palate is a common congenital anomaly for which surgical repair is indicated during early childhood. The surgical repair of cleft palate is very painful, and generally requires high doses of opioids for adequate pain control, placing children at risk for post-operative respiratory depression and airway obstruction. An alternative approach to post-operative analgesia for cleft palate repair is the placement of nerve blocks in the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally, blocking the maxillary nerve and covering the entire mid-face. This randomized, double-blinded study will investigate the utility of maxillary nerve blockade in controlling post-operative pain, decreasing opioid requirements, improving post-operative oral food and drink intake, and decreasing hospital length-of-stay after cleft palate repair.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610-3003
        • UF Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

3 months to 5 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient presenting for palatoplasty for cleft palate only.
  • Parent/guardian consents to participate
  • Normal oral food and water intake before surgery
  • No underlying chronic pain condition

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Parent/guardian refuses to consent
  • Patient requires revision surgery on the palate
  • Patient requires surgery in addition to palatoplasty, including, but not limited to pharyngeal flap or soft palate lengthening procedures.
  • Any underlying chronic pain condition
  • Presence of any other factor which, at the discretion of any member of the study team, makes the patient a poor candidate for block placement.
  • Presence of any other factor which, at the discretion of any member of the study team, makes the patient a poor candidate for research participation.
  • History of Pierre Robin sequence
  • Planned or anticipated need for any type of artificial airway post-op

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade
A single injection into the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally of 0.2% ropivacaine at a dose of 0.15 mL/kg (block) after the induction of general anesthesia.
Drug: Ropivacaine
A single injection into the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally of 0.2% ropivacaine at a dose of 0.15 mL/kg (block) after the induction of general anesthesia
Other Names:
  • Naropin
Sham Comparator: 25 Gauge needle
Subcutaneous placement of a 25 Gauge needle as a sham comparator after the induction of general anesthesia. Nothing will be injected.
Other: Sham Comparator
The subcutaneous placement of a 25 Gauge needle as a sham control after the induction of general anesthesia. Nothing will be injected.
Other Names:
  • Control

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in time to oral intake following palatoplasty for cleft palate
Time Frame: Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.
Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve to provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving time to oral intake after surgery.
Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in amount of opioids following palatoplasty for cleft palate
Time Frame: Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.
Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve to provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving pain control after surgery.
Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.
Change in length of hospitalization following palatoplasty for cleft palate
Time Frame: Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.
Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve to provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving time to hospital discharge after surgery.
Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Florida

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Cameron R Smith, MD, PhD, University of Florida

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 20, 2018

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 6, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 13, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 15, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 20, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IRB201801011
  • OCR18511 (Other Identifier: University of Florida)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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