Effectiveness of Retrolaminar Block in Lumbar Spine Fusion With Multimodal Analgesia (RBLUF)

December 5, 2025 updated by: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Effectiveness of Retrolaminar Block in Reducing Postoperative Opioid Consumption in Patients Undergoing Lumbar Spine Fusion With Multimodal Analgesia

This randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided retrolaminar block in reducing postoperative opioid consumption in patients undergoing lumbar spine fusion surgery under multimodal analgesia.

The participants will:

  • Be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either a retrolaminar block with 0.25% bupivacaine plus epinephrine or a sham block (normal saline) prior to surgical incision.
  • Receive standardized multimodal analgesia.
  • Have follow-up by the Acute Pain Unit during the first 3 days, to assess opioid consumption (morphine) in 24 hours, pain intensity measured by Numeric Rating Scale, quality of recovery assessed by the QoR-15 questionnaire, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative complications.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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

After obtaining approval from the institutional CEC-CCSS and prospective registration of the study at clinicaltrials.org, the investigators will recruit patients who meet the inclusion criteria and provide written consent.

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.
44

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: Victor Contreras, MSN
  • Phone Number: 3414 56223543414
  • Email: vecontre@uc.cl

Study Contact Backup

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

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18-75 years, scheduled for lumbar spine fusion surgery by a trauma team
  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Classification I-III
  • Willing and able to provide written informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of chronic use of strong or weak opioids for more than 3 months.
  • Diagnosis of chronic pain and treatment by a pain management team.
  • ASA score greater than or equal to 4.
  • Patients with prior lumbar spine surgery. Spinal instrumentation at the surgical site.
  • Estimated creatinine clearance less than 60 ml/min.
  • Coagulation disorder or abnormal coagulation tests.
  • Infection at the surgical site.
  • Weight less than 50 kg.
  • Altered mental status that prevents reliable evaluation.
  • Allergy to local anesthetics or analgesic drugs used in the study.
  • Patients with contraindications to peripheral nerve blocks.
  • Lumbar spine fixation due to oncologic disease or acute trauma.
  • Use of intraoperative neuromonitoring and TIVA.

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: Triple

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: Retrolaminar block
Participants received retrolaminar block with 0.25% Bupivacaine (20 ml) plus epinephrine (5 mcg/ml), on both sides of the vertebral lamina, and a subcutaneous injection in the area of the surgical incision with 20 ml of the same concentration and dose used previously.
Procedure: retrolaminar block
Retrolaminar block with bupivacaine and epinephrine on both sides of the vertebral lamina, and subcutaneous injection in the area of the surgical incision.
Sham Comparator: Sham block
Participants received a retrolaminar sham block with 0.9% saline solution (20 ml), on both sides of the vertebra lamina, and a subcutaneous injection in the area of the surgical incision with 20 ml of the same concentration and dose used previously.
Procedure: Sham block
Sham block in the retrolaminar area with saline solution on both sides of the vertebral lamina, and subcutaneous injection in the area of the surgical incision.

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
Opioid consumption during the first 24 hours postoperative
Time Frame: Daily consumption during the first 24 hours
To assess rescue opioid consumption, expressed as morphine equivalents, during the first 24 hours postoperative.
Daily consumption during the first 24 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
Daily Numeric Rating Score (NRS) during the first 3 postoperative days
Time Frame: Daily NRS during the first 3 postoperative days
The NRS (Numeric Rating Scale) is commonly used to assess pain intensity. Its minimum score is 0, indicating no pain, and its maximum score is 10, indicating the worst pain imaginable. This scale is simple and allows patients to rate their pain using a number from 0 to 10. The objective is to assess the intensity of acute postoperative pain, expressed as NRS, during the first 3 postoperative days.
Daily NRS during the first 3 postoperative days
Daily score on the "Quality of Recovery-15" (QoR-15) scale during the first 3 postoperative days.
Time Frame: Preoperative score and daily score during the first 3 postoperative days
The QoR-15 is a validated instrument in the literature that assesses the quality of recovery in patients after surgery. It is a multidimensional measurement tool that allows healthcare professionals to gain an overview of the patient's well-being during the postoperative period. The questionnaire consists of 15 items, covering 5 dimensions: Physical Comfort, Physical Independence, Emotional Support, Psychological Well-being, and Satisfaction with Recovery. The minimum score on the scale is 0 points, and the maximum score is 150 points. This range is obtained by summing the scores of the different categories evaluated in the QoR-15 scale, where a higher score indicates a better quality of postoperative recovery.
Preoperative score and daily score during the first 3 postoperative days
bleeding and transfusions
Time Frame: Intraoperative and during the first 3 days
Subjective assessment of total intraoperative bleeding (mild, moderate, severe), blood in collectors, number of compresses with blood, hematocrit variations at 24 hours after the procedure and need for transfusion in the perioperative period.
Intraoperative and during the first 3 days

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.
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

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.
December 1, 2025

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 1, 2026

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.
March 1, 2027

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 5, 2025

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.
December 5, 2025

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.
December 18, 2025

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.
December 18, 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.
December 5, 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

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.
  • 241022008

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

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.

Clinical Trials on Acute Pain

Clinical Trials on retrolaminar block

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings