Pain After Strabismus Surgery

July 29, 2026 updated by: Hawke H. Yoon, Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Pain After Strabismus Surgery: Post-Operative Outcomes Using Courses of Acetaminophen in Children

At Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (Lurie Children's), the current practice is to prescribe children with oral Tylenol as needed every 4-6 hours post strabismus surgery. Prescribing Tylenol "as needed" leaves more room for error for parents to be under-dosing their children, which can lead to avoidable pain. This study aims to figure out if children ages 4-12 years old will feel significantly less pain and discomfort when given regimented Tylenol every 6 hours for 48 hours after strabismus surgery (eye muscle surgery) compared to controls whose parents are instructed to give Tylenol every 4-6 hours as needed for 48 hours after surgery. To date, there have been no studies comparing patient outcomes between those taking Tylenol regimen and those receiving Tylenol as needed after pediatric surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

Main hypothesis:

Children ages 4-12 years will feel significantly less pain and discomfort when given regimented Tylenol every 6 hours for 48 hours after strabismus surgery (surgery to correct misaligned eyes) compared to controls whose parents are instructed to give Tylenol every 4-6 hours as needed for 48 hours after surgery.

Primary Objective At Lurie Children's, the current standard practice is for patients to be prescribed oral acetaminophen as needed every 4-6 hours after strabismus surgery. However, making the acetaminophen "as needed" leaves room for error for parents to be underdosing their children and, thus, leads to increased pain felt by these pediatric patients. To date, there have been no studies comparing patient satisfaction outcomes between a group taking a course of scheduled acetaminophen every 6 hours and to a group instructed to take as needed. The investigators plan to study the differences between these two groups by using the Parent's Post-operative Pain Measure (PPPM) questionnaire to survey parents and the Faces Pain Scale-Revised to survey children at their post-operative appointment.

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 (Estimated)

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.
80

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 2

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 Contact Backup

  • Name: Hawke Yoon Principal Investigator, MD
  • Phone Number: 312-227-6180

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

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

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children between 4-12 years old
  • Children receiving single muscle, bilateral horizontal strabismus surgery (that is, children who are having only one horizontal eye muscle in each eye operated on) at Lurie Children's hospital in Chicago, IL
  • ASA classification 1 or 2. Note: ASA is a physical status classification system (scale of 1-6) created by the American Society of Anesthesiologists to describe patients prior to surgery. ASA 1 or 2 means the patient is either healthy or has mild systemic disease prior to surgery.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • ASA classification 3 or higher (patient has severe systemic disease or worse)
  • Contraindication to toradol (anesthesia)
  • Contraindication to acetaminophen
  • Previous strabismus surgery

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: Tylenol as needed
Tylenol prescribed to be taken as needed for pain management for 48 hours after surgery
Drug: Tylenol
Tylenol for children
Other Names:
  • acetaminophen
Experimental: Tylenol every 6hrs
Tylenol prescribed to be taken very 6 hours for pain management for 48 hours after surgery
Drug: Tylenol
Tylenol for children
Other Names:
  • acetaminophen

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
Parent reported Pain score using the Parent's Post-operative Pain Measure
Time Frame: From enrollment to 1 day after surgery
Pain score reported by parent validated questionnaire- Scale from 0 to 29, 0 is no pain and 29 is the worst pain.
From enrollment to 1 day after surgery
Child reported pain score using the Faces Pain Scale- Revised
Time Frame: 2-4 days after surgery
Child reported pain using Faces Pain Scale revised questionnaire. Scale from 0 to 5; 0 is no pain and 5 is the worst pain.
2-4 days after surgery

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.
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

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 (Estimated)

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 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

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, 2030

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).
November 13, 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.
November 13, 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.
November 15, 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.
July 30, 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.
July 29, 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.
July 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.
  • 2024-7067

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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