SiFi vs FNB Local Anesthesia for Hip Fracture Surgeries

May 4, 2026 updated by: University of Alberta

Femoral Nerve Blockade (FNB) vs Suprainguinal Fascia Iliaca Block (SiFi) for Hip Fracture Surgery

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two commonly used local/regional anesthesia techniques in adults patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. The main question[s] it aims to answer are: • the impact of both interventions on patient level of pain. • impact on postoperative analgesics administered Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two local/regional anesthesia techniques, either femoral nerve block (FNB) or suprainguinal fascia iliaca block (SiFi). Both techniques are the usual practice at the hospital, and we are NOT aiming to experiment on new anesthesia technique in this study.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

Hip fracture in the elderly is an increasingly common problem worldwide. Nearly all patients with a hip fracture undergo surgery. Patients with hip fractures often have significant pain, particularly with movement, and surgical fixation is associated with significant pain.

The treatment of pain with the use of a multimodal analgesic regimen is a major priority for elderly patients with hip fractures. These patients are often frail and have multiple medical comorbidities. Hence the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories drugs and systemic opioids may be contraindicated or complicated by adverse effects. Regional anesthesia techniques including femoral nerve blocks (FNB) and fascia iliaca compartment blocks (FICB) are frequently utilized as part of multimodal analgesia due to their relative lack of side-effects. Femoral nerve blockade and suprainguinal fascia iliaca (SiFi) blockade have been described for this indication. Several studies have investigated the analgesic efficacy of the SiFi block after total hip arthroplasty. However, randomized controlled trials on the analgesic efficacy of the SiFi block for pain after hip fracture surgery are not plentiful and subject to methodological concerns.

Objectives:

The primary objective is to test the hypothesis that in patients undergoing hip fracture surgery, suprainguinal fascia iliaca block is associated with improved pain scores and a reduction in opioid utilization when compared with femoral nerve block. Secondary objectives will be to compare time to mobilization, time to readiness for discharge and complications associated with both nerve block techniques.

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.
17

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 Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, t6g2b7
        • University of Alberta 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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 or greater
  • Having hip fracture surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital
  • Suitable for multimodal analgesia including a peripheral nerve block

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contraindication to a nerve block technique
  • Refuses consent for a nerve block technique

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: SIFI local anesthesia
Subjects randomized to the SiFi arm will have an ultrasound-guided suprainguinal fascia iliaca single shot block performed preoperatively in the anesthesia block room with 40ml of 0.2% ropivacaine local anesthetic. This will be reduced to 30 ml in patients under 60 kg.
Procedure: Regional anesthesia
ultrasound-guided suprainguinal fascia iliaca block with 40ml of ropivacaine local or ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block with 20ml of ropivacaine local anesthetic
Active Comparator: FNB local anesthesia
Subjects randomized to the FNB arm will have an ultrasound-guided femoral nerve single shot block performed preoperatively in the anesthesia block room with 20ml of 0.5% ropivacaine local anesthetic. This will be reduced to 15ml in patients under 60 kg.
Procedure: Regional anesthesia
ultrasound-guided suprainguinal fascia iliaca block with 40ml of ropivacaine local or ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block with 20ml of ropivacaine local anesthetic

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
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: 48 hours
Postoperative numerical pain rating scale (NRS) pain scores
48 hours
Postoperative analgesics administered
Time Frame: 48 hours
Postoperative opioid utilization
48 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
Mobilization
Time Frame: 48 hours
Time to first mobilization
48 hours
Time to readiness for discharge
Time Frame: 48 hours
Time to 'ready for discharge'
48 hours
Complications
Time Frame: 48 hours
Complications associated with both block techniques
48 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 Alberta

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.
August 1, 2024

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.
March 1, 2026

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.
March 1, 2026

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).
February 29, 2024

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.
February 29, 2024

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.
March 6, 2024

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 6, 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 4, 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.
  • SiFi_HIP FRACTURE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

No plan to make the individual participants data available to other researchers was made

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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