Effect of Nalmefene on the Quality of Resuscitation in Patients Under General Anesthesia

February 23, 2026 updated by: RenJi Hospital

Postoperative recovery is an important part of the patient's experience. A good recovery period is an important guarantee for the recovery of postoperative organs and functions after surgery. However, the delay in awakening after general anesthesia remains one of the biggest challenges facing anesthesiologists. The time of resuscitation depends on patient factors, effects of anesthetic factors, duration of surgery, and painful stimulation.

The delay of recovery after anesthesia was mainly caused by the use of anesthetic drugs during the perioperative period. The drugs commonly used during the perioperative period are opioid analgesics, sedatives and muscle relaxants. Studies have shown that intravenous opioids are more difficult to control than neuromuscular relaxants. Opioids can extend the recovery time after anesthesia by direct sedation of opioid receptors. It also reduces the sensitivity of brainstem chemoreceptors to carbon dioxide, leading to dose-dependent respiratory depression and hypercapnia, which affects the removal of volatile substances and carbon dioxide, and ultimately leads to coma. In addition, the active metabolites of some opioids can prolong the duration of action, especially in the case of impaired renal function, which can lead to delayed awakening.

As an opioid antagonist, nalmefene can inhibit or reverse the respiratory inhibition, sedation and hypotension effects of opioid drugs. Moreover, it has no opioid excitatory activity, does not produce respiratory inhibition, hallucinogenic effect or pupil dilation. In terms of inducing wakefulness during anesthesia, nalmefene can effectively reverse the sedative effect caused by opioids. There have been reports at home and abroad that nalmefene can be used to improve the effect of post-anesthesia resuscitation and reduce agitation during the waking period, but there is still a lack of large sample and well-designed randomized controlled studies to provide important data on how to improve the quality of anesthetized resuscitation. This study will conduct a rigorous randomized controlled studies,with large sample, and the research indicators for patients from the PACU roll-out to ordinary ward, using Aldrete score , in order to obtain a series of data of nalmefene used for anesthesia recovery , and to set the foundation of related research of nalmefene and similar drugs in clinical application in the future.

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

Postoperative recovery is an important part of the patient's experience, regardless of the type of surgery. The recovery and prognosis of postoperative anesthesia have gradually become important indicators for judging the efficacy and quality of anesthesia. The recovery period of general anesthesia is an important transition period from anesthesia to wakefulness, and a good recovery period is an important guarantee for the recovery of postoperative organs and functions after surgery. However, the delay in awakening after general anesthesia remains one of the biggest challenges facing anesthesiologists. Postoperative resuscitation is the result of the removal of anesthetics from the brain. The time of resuscitation depends on patient factors, effects of anesthetic factors, duration of surgery, and painful stimulation.

The delay of recovery after anesthesia was mainly caused by the use of anesthetic drugs during the perioperative period. The drugs commonly used during the perioperative period are opioid analgesics, sedatives and muscle relaxants. Studies have shown that intravenous opioids are more difficult to control than neuromuscular relaxants. Opioids can extend the recovery time after anesthesia by direct sedation of opioid receptors. It also reduces the sensitivity of brainstem chemoreceptors to carbon dioxide, leading to dose-dependent respiratory depression and hypercapnia, which affects the removal of volatile substances and carbon dioxide, and ultimately leads to coma. In addition, the active metabolites of some opioids can prolong the duration of action, especially in the case of impaired renal function, which can lead to delayed awakening.

As an opioid antagonist, nalmefene can inhibit or reverse the respiratory inhibition, sedation and hypotension effects of opioid drugs. Moreover, it has no opioid excitatory activity, does not produce respiratory inhibition, hallucinogenic effect or pupil dilation. No pharmacological effects were observed without the administration of opioid agonists. In terms of inducing wakefulness during anesthesia, nalmefene can effectively reverse the sedative effect caused by opioids. There have been reports at home and abroad that nalmefene can be used to improve the effect of post-anesthesia resuscitation and reduce agitation during the waking period, but there is still a lack of large sample and well-designed randomized controlled studies to provide important data on how to improve the quality of anesthetized resuscitation. In order to speed up the awakening after anesthesia, promote the patients' consciousness and respiratory recovery, and improve the quality of awakening patients after anesthesia, the patients should control postoperative pain immediatly, improve the comfort of patients in the PACU, reduce the residence time of patients, speed up the circulation of operated patients, reduce the costs of PACU, and reduce the staff workload in the PACU. This study will conduct a rigorous randomized controlled studies, large sample, and the research indicators for patients from the PACU roll-out to ordinary ward, using Aldrete score , in order to obtain a series of data of nalmefene used for anesthesia recovery , and to lay the foundation of related research of nalmefene and similar drugs in clinical application in the future.

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.
542

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

  • China
    • Guangxi
      • Guangxi, Guangxi, China, 530000
        • The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University
    • Shanghai Municipality
      • Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China, 200127
        • RenJi Hospital
      • Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China, 200000
        • Shanghai Tong Ren Hospital
    • Zhengzhou
      • Henan, Zhengzhou, China, 450000
        • The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University

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

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age is greater than or equal to 18 years old and less than 65 years old
  2. Patients who need tracheal intubation under general anesthesia at the right time for orthopedics, urology, and thoracic elective surgery
  3. Patients with American Society of Anesthesia physical status I or II
  4. BMI≥18kg/m2, and ≤30kg/m2
  5. The estimated anesthesia time is 1-4 hours.
  6. The intraoperative narcotic analgesics (Sufentanil and Remifentanil)
  7. The patient uses electronic intravenous analgesia pump after surgery
  8. The patient has informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. patients who refused to participate in the study
  2. pantients who refuse intravenous analgesia
  3. medical history or family history of cognitive disorders,delirium, epilepsy, abalienation, anxiety or depression;
  4. recent use of anticholinergic drugs, antidepressants, antianxietics or anticonvulsants
  5. medical history of organic brain diseases or cranial vascular diseases
  6. patients with a history of allergy to any drug used in the study
  7. History of drug addiction and alcoholic intemperance or drug abuse
  8. The patient is diagnosed with severe heart and lung disease, or active heart disease, or severe hepatic dysfunction (ChildePugh class C), or severe renal dysfunction (undergoing dialysis before surgery) ,critical illness (preoperative ASA physical status classification > =3)
  9. Participate in other clinical trials within 4 weeks
  10. Patients who, during surgery, presented complications （cerebrovascular accidents、heart failure、pneumothorax）or transfer to the intensive care unit during hospitalization, and patients who chose to abandon.
  11. Inability to communicate in the preoperative period because of coma, profound dementia, language barrier, or incapacity from severe disease
  12. Anesthesia time is <1 hour or >4 hours
  13. Patients had chronic pain (unsatisfied pain control for at least 1 month).

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: Quadruple

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: Nalmefene group
for the nalmefene group, immediately Intravenous injection of Nalmefene (0.25 g/kg, plus normal saline to 1ml) after surgery
Drug: Nalmefene
Immediately Intravenous injection of Nalmefene (0.25 g/kg, plus normal saline to 1ml) after surgery
Placebo Comparator: Control group
Intravenous injection of normal saline 1ml immediately after surgery
Drug: normal Saline
Immediately Intravenous injection of normal saline 1ml after surgery

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 stay in PACU
Time Frame: From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
The time between the end of the operation and the Aldrete score ≥9 in PACU
From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours

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
Extube time
Time Frame: From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
The time from the end of the operation to the removal of the endotracheal tube in PACU
From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
Whether to use remedial analgesic drug (sufentanil) in PACU and the dosage
Time Frame: From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
Whether to use remedial analgesic drug (fentanyl) in PACU and the dosage in PACU
From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
VAS pain score (assessment time Aldrete score ≥9 points, 1h after surgery, 24h after surgery)
Time Frame: 1h after surgery, and 24h after surgery
VAS pain score (assessment time Aldrete score ≥9 points, 1h after surgery, 24h after surgery) with assessment time Aldrete score ≥9 points, 1h after surgery, 24h after surgery)
1h after surgery, and 24h after surgery
The incidence of nausea and vomiting in PACU
Time Frame: From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
The incidence of nausea and vomiting in PACU
From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
Incidence of nausea and vomiting 0-24h after surgery
Time Frame: From the end of operation up to 24h after surgery
Incidence of nausea and vomiting 0-24h after surgery
From the end of operation up to 24h after surgery
Incidence of pruritus 0-24h after surgery
Time Frame: From the end of operation up to 24h after surgery
Incidence of pruritus 0-24h after surgery
From the end of operation up to 24h after surgery
RASS score
Time Frame: From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
RASS score when the removal of the endotracheal tube
From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
the directional force The time at which the Montreal orientation score was ≥5
Time Frame: From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours
The time at which the Montreal orientation score was ≥5
From the end of the operation to the time that patient leave to inpatient ward up to 2hours

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.
RenJi Hospital

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Shanghai Tong Ren Hospital
The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University
First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University

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.
  • Study Chair: Weifeng Yu, Department of Anesthesiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, SJTU

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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.
September 24, 2021

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.
December 31, 2023

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.
December 31, 2023

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).
December 16, 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 14, 2021

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 19, 2021

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.
February 25, 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.
February 23, 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.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • 2020-sx004

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

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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