Intra-Operative Adductor Canal Blocks

May 25, 2026 updated by: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Surgeon-performed, Intraoperative Adductor Canal Blocks in Same-Day Discharge Total Knee Arthroplasty

Adductor canal blocks (ACB) have been recommended in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to provide better control of post-operative pain, facilitate early ambulation, and reduce length of stay in the hospital. ACB is typically done before surgery by an anesthesiologist, which may increase time per case, cost, and requires the specialized skills of an anesthesiologist trained in regional anesthesia. Recent studies have suggested that surgeons can safely and reliably administer the adductor canal blocks (sACB) during surgery. However, there is currently very limited data on the clinical efficacy of such sACBs, and no studies assessing this technique in the context TKA that are discharged the same day. As such, this randomized control trial (RCT) is being done to compare sACBs to conventional anesthesiologist-performed adductor canal blocks (aACB).

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.

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.
200

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.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Sanjula Costa
  • Phone Number: 72640 613-737-8899
  • Email: scosta@ohri.ca

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
        • The Ottawa Hospital

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Male and female patients aged 18 years or older
  2. Primary TKA booked as SDD
  3. Diagnosis of osteoarthritis

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Inability or refusal to sign informed consent form
  2. Non-English or French speaking, and no licensed translator, family member or substitute decision maker available.
  3. Non-osteoarthritis primary diagnosis
  4. Allergy to analgesic medications
  5. Contraindication to spinal and/or regional anaesthesia
  6. Any use of opioid pain medication within four weeks of the index procedure(13)
  7. Pain catastrophizing scale score ≥16 (8, 9, 14)
  8. History of cirrhosis
  9. History renal insufficiency
  10. History or sensory and/or motor neuropathy to the ipsilateral limb
  11. Simultaneous, bilateral TKA
  12. Non-TKA prosthesis
  13. Scheduled for non-SDD TKA.
  14. Preoperative varus/valgus of >10 degrees.
  15. Planned General Anaesthetic
  16. Use of Intrathecal Morphine

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: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Anesthesiologist-Performed Adductor Canal Block (aACB)
Patients will get a pre-operative adductor canal block performed by an anesthesiologist.
Procedure: aACB
The patient will undergo a pre-operative single-shot, ultrasound-guided ACB performed by an anaesthesiologist skilled in regional anaesthesia techniques. The ACB will be performed in a dedicated block room, immediately prior to administration of a spinal anaesthetic.
Experimental: Surgeon-Performed Adductor Canal Block (sACB)
Patients will get an intra-operative adductor canal block performed by the surgeon
Procedure: sACB
The patient will undergo an intraoperative single-shot ACB performed by the treating surgeon following placement of the TKA components.

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
Patient Report Pain
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours
Mean Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) scores on discharge
Up to 24 hours
Pain medication use
Time Frame: When spinal anesthesia resolves until 24 hours after surgery
morphine equivalents of pain medication
When spinal anesthesia resolves until 24 hours after surgery

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
Time to discharge
Time Frame: From PACU to discharge
Post-operative time in minutes to discharge home
From PACU to discharge
Admission to Hospital
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours post-operative
Failure to discharge home requiring admission
Up to 24 hours post-operative
Readmission Rate
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours post-operative
Number of patients readmitted to the hospital within 24 hours
Up to 24 hours post-operative
Timed Up and Go Test
Time Frame: At discharge
Time is takes, in seconds, to stand, walk 3m, turn around, walk back 3m, and sit back down
At discharge
Patient Reported Quality of Recovery
Time Frame: At 24 hours post-operative
Score on the Quality of Recovery-15 questionnaire
At 24 hours post-operative
Patient Reported Function
Time Frame: pre-operatively, at 2 weeks post-operative
Difference in scores on the Oxford knee score (questionnaire), rated from 0-48 with 48 being the best functional outcome and 0 being the worst
pre-operatively, at 2 weeks post-operative
Patient Reported Quality of Life
Time Frame: pre-operatively, at 2 weeks post-operative
Difference in scores on the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire (Euro Quality of Life, 5 Dimension, 5 Level), rated from 11111 - 55555, with 11111 being full health and 55555 being worst health
pre-operatively, at 2 weeks post-operative
Patient Reported Global Health
Time Frame: pre-operatively, at 2 weeks post-operative
Difference in scores on the PROMIS-10 - Global Health (questionnaire), which generates T-scores. Higher T-scores indicate better health.
pre-operatively, at 2 weeks post-operative

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.
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

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.
Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation

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: Simon Garceau, MD, The Ottawa Hospital

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.
March 22, 2023

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 13, 2025

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 28, 2025

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).
September 20, 2022

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.
October 28, 2022

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.
November 1, 2022

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.
May 27, 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 25, 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.
May 1, 2026

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.
  • 20220573-01H

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

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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