External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block Versus Thoracic Paravertebral Block for Post Thoracotomy Pain

August 18, 2025 updated by: Mohammed Said ElSharkawy, Tanta University

External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block Versus Thoracic Paravertebral Block for Post Thoracotomy Pain: A Randomized Non-inferiority Trial

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of analgesia achieved by external oblique intercostal plane block (EOIPB)and thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) for postoperative pain management in patients undergoing open thoracotomy.

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

Acute thoracotomy pain is multifactorial in nature. It involves nociceptive and neuropathic mechanisms originating from somatic and visceral afferents. The main sources of pain are intercostal nerves, the vagus nerve and phrenic nerve in the pleura, the superficial cervical plexus, and the brachial plexus in the ipsilateral shoulder.

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.
90

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.

Study Locations

  • Egypt
    • El-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt
      • Tanta, El-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, Egypt, 31527
        • Tanta University Hospitals

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 years.
  • Both sexes.
  • American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) physical status I-III.
  • Scheduled for open thoracotomy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with neurological or intellectual disability.
  • Infection at the injection site.
  • Opioid addiction.
  • Allergic reaction to local anesthetics.
  • Coagulation abnormalities.
  • Drug abuse.
  • Pregnancy.
  • Severe liver and/or renal failure.
  • Uncontrolled hypertension.
  • Severe cardiovascular problems.
  • Diabetes mellitus.

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

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: External oblique intercostal plane block
Patients will receive external oblique intercostal plane block.
Other: External oblique intercostal plane block
Patients will receive external oblique intercostal plane block
Experimental: Thoracic paravertebral block
Patients will receive thoracic paravertebral block.
Other: Thoracic paravertebral block
Patients will receive thoracic paravertebral block

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
Total morphine consumption
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively
Rescue analgesia of morphine will be given as 2 mg bolus if the numeric rating scale (NRS) > 3 to be repeated after 30 min if pain persists until the numeric rating scale < 4. numeric rating scale will be assessed at 0, 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24h postoperatively.
24 hours postoperatively

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
Intraoperative fentanyl consumption
Time Frame: Intraoperative
Additional fentanyl bolus dosages of 1 µg/kg IV will be administered if heart rate or mean arterial blood pressure elevated more than 20% of the baseline (after exclusion of other causes than pain).
Intraoperative
Heart rate
Time Frame: Till the end of surgery
Heart rate will be recorded preoperative, before performing of block, and every 15 min till the end of surgery.
Till the end of surgery
Mean arterial pressure
Time Frame: Till the end of surgery
Mean arterial pressure will be recorded preoperative, before performing of block, and every 15 min till the end of surgery.
Till the end of surgery
Time to the 1st rescue analgesia
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively
All patients will receive paracetamol 1 gm every 6 h as routine analgesia. Rescue analgesia of morphine will be given as 2 mg bolus if the numeric rating scale > 3 to be repeated after 30 min if pain persists until the numeric rating scale < 4. NRS will be assessed at 0, 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24h postoperatively
24 hours postoperatively
Degree of pain
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively
Degree of pain will be measured using numeric rating scale (NRS) (0 represents "no pain" while 10 represents "the worst pain imaginable").NRS will be assessed at 0, 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24h postoperatively.
24 hours postoperatively
Complications
Time Frame: 24 hour postoperatively
Complications such as bradycardia, hypotension, nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression, local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) or any other complication will be recorded.
24 hour postoperatively

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.
Tanta University

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.
May 30, 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.
June 1, 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.
June 1, 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).
May 16, 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.
May 21, 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.
May 29, 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.
August 19, 2025

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.
August 18, 2025

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.
August 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.
  • 36246PR638/4/24

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The data will be available upon a reasonable request from the corresponding author after the end of study for one year.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After the end of study for one year.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

The data will be available upon a reasonable request from the corresponding author.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

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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