Sufentanil Infusion vs Sufentanil Bolus

May 12, 2026 updated by: University of Nebraska

Sufentanil Infusion vs Sufentanil Bolus and Time to Extubation During Routine Cardiac Surgery

Randomized single blind controlled clinical trial to test the benefit of sufentanil infusion over bolus dosing to reduce time to extubation and reduced length of ICU stay.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

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

This study will compare Sufentanil bolus vs infusion and analyze which has a faster extubation time in participants who undergo routine cardiac surgery. The hypothesis is that routine cardiac surgery patients receiving sufentanil infusion will have a lower sufentanil concentration at the end of surgery and have a shorter time to extubation than participants receiving sufentanil bolus dosing even with similar total doses of sufentanil. The intervention will be Sufentanil infusion during surgery and evaluations will include Sufentanil blood concentrations, ICU and hospital length of stay and re-intubation rate. We will follow up with the participants through their ICU stay (primary objective) and hospital length of stay (secondary objective).

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 (Actual)

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.
65

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
    • Nebraska
      • Omaha, Nebraska, United States, 68198
        • University of Nebraska Medical Center

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

19 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Scheduled non-emergency cardiac surgical patients including those with planned procedures of CABG, AVR, and combined CABG and AVR
  • 19 to 80 years old
  • Planned pre-operative anesthesia screening visit and/or preoperative surgical clinic visit.
  • Inpatient subject that is scheduled (greater than 24hrs in advance) for a non-emergency cardiac surgical case

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Sufentanil allergy
  • EF less than or equal to 30%
  • Moderate or severe right ventricular dysfunction,
  • Moderate pulmonary dysfunction, to include patients with at home 02 and/or daily bronchodilator therapy.
  • End Stage Renal Disease on Dialysis
  • Chronic Kidney Disease with GFR <30
  • Sternotomy Re-do
  • Emergency surgery
  • Greater than 4 units of RBCs or FFP combined
  • Mechanical circulatory support post-operatively such as ECMO, IABP, Impella
  • Not eligible for rapid wean extubation protocol
  • Requires infusion of sedative medication required during ICU admission
  • Greater than or equal to 15 minute ICU hold within PACU

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: Single

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.
Active Comparator: Sufentanil Bolus
medication in scheduled doses (bolus)
Drug: Sufentanil Bolus
Intra-operative sufentanil bolus
Other Names:
  • Sufentanil
Experimental: Sufentanil Infusion
medication in a slow trickle (infusion)
Drug: Sufentanil Infusion
Intra-operative sufentanil infusion
Other Names:
  • Sufentanil

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
Time to Extubation
Time Frame: Amount of time in minutes from procedure finish to time of extubation, up to 800 minutes.
We will determine if sufentanil infusion administration intra-operatively during routine cardiac surgery will decrease time to extubation from OR stop data collection time point by 60 minutes compared to sufentanil bolus administration.
Amount of time in minutes from procedure finish to time of extubation, up to 800 minutes.

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
Plasma Concentration
Time Frame: Lab concentration is drawn when patient arrives to ICU, an average of 1 hour after procedure.
We will determine if sufentanil infusion administration intra-operatively during routine cardiac surgery will result in a lower plasma concentration of sufentanil at time of arrival to ICU and if the plasma concentration correlates with time to extubation.
Lab concentration is drawn when patient arrives to ICU, an average of 1 hour after procedure.
Oral Morphine Milligram Equivalents
Time Frame: Post-operatively
Post-operative pain medication dosage in oral morphine milligram equivalents (OMMEs).
Post-operatively
Length of ICU Stay
Time Frame: From ICU admission to ICU discharge.
Duration of post-operative ICU stay in hours.
From ICU admission to ICU discharge.
Length of Hospital Stay
Time Frame: From hospital admission to hospital discharge
Length of hospitalization from hospital admission to hospital discharge measured in days.
From hospital admission to hospital discharge

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 Nebraska

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: Jeffrey C Songster, MD, University of Nebraska

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.
October 13, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

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.
October 28, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

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 28, 2021

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).
January 9, 2020

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.
January 10, 2020

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.
January 13, 2020

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.
June 8, 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.
May 12, 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, 2024

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.
  • 0520-20-FB

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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