Effect of Opioid-Sparing Anesthesia on Postoperative Opioid Consumption and Pain in Elderly Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery

May 8, 2026 updated by: Jingping Wang, MD, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital

Effect of Opioid-Sparing Anesthesia on Postoperative Opioid Consumption and Pain in Spine Surgery

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an anesthesia management strategy called opioid-sparing anesthesia could help reduce postoperative opioid consumption, pain intensity and enhance recovery in elderly patients undergoing spine surgery. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does opioid-sparing anesthesia reduce postoperative opioid consumption?

Dose opioid-sparing anesthesia improve postoperative pain and enhance recovery?

Researchers will compare opioid-sparing anesthesia to routine anesthesia which is used most common in clinical practice to see if opioid-sparing anesthesia lead to fewer postoperative opioid consumption and better pain and recovery outcomes.

Participants will randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group will receive opioid-sparing anesthesia management , while the other group will receive routine anesthesia management during general anesthesia.

Participants will provide two rectal swab samples for analysis, complete five questionnaires once preoperatively, and then complete five questionnaires daily for three days postoperatively.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

Conditions

Conditions

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Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

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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.
120

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

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged ≥ 65 years
  • Undergoing multilevel level (≥2 levels) spine surgery under general anesthesia
  • Able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed with severe cognitive impairment or psychiatric disorders that impair participation or communication
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Patients with contraindications to any of the medications in the study protocol (unstable angina, recent myocardial infarction, cerebral or aortic aneurysms, increased intracranial pressure, increased intraocular pressure, psychosis or schizophrenia, pheochromocytoma, epilepsy, second- or third-degree atrioventricular block, bradycardia (heart rate < 50bpm), liver failure, hypotension (systolic BP <80 mmHg))
  • Drug or alcohol abuse
  • Refuse to participate

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: 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: Group 1：Opioid-Sparing Anesthesia
Participants assigned to Group 1 will receive opioid-sparing anesthesia strategy. Continuous intravenous infusion of ketamine (5 μg/kg/min) and dexmedetomidine (0.6 μg/kg/h) will be initiated from induction and maintained until one hour before the anticipated end of surgery. If needed during surgery, rescue analgesia with dexmedetomidine (0.4 μg/kg, i.v.) or ketamine (5 mg, i.v.) may be administered as clinically indicated.
Drug: Opioid-Sparing Protocol
The opioid-sparing anesthesia protocol consists of continuous intravenous infusion of ketamine (5 μg/kg/min) and dexmedetomidine (0.6 μg/kg/h) during general anesthesia. If needed during surgery, rescue analgesia with dexmedetomidine (0.4 μg/kg, i.v.) or ketamine (5 mg, i.v.) may be administered as clinically indicated.
Active Comparator: Group 2：Routine Anesthesia
Participants assigned to Group 2 will receive routine anesthesia management. During induction, fentanyl 100 μg will be administered intravenously. If needed during surgery, rescue analgesia with hydromorphone may be administered as clinically indicated.
Drug: Routine anesthesia protocol
Routine anesthesia consisting of standard general anesthetic management per institutional practice, which include opioid-based analgesia as clinically indicated, which is fentanyl 100 μg during induction, and if needed during surgery, rescue analgesia with hydromorphone may be administered as clinically indicated.

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
Time Frame: From end of surgery to 24 hours after surgery
Total morphine equivalent consumption during the first 24 hours after surgery
From end of surgery to 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
Pain Scores (NRS)
Time Frame: From end of surgery to postoperative 72 hours
Pain intensity will be assessed after recovery and 1, 6, 24, 48, 72 hours after surgery using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) daily, including NRS at rest, NRS on movement.
From end of surgery to postoperative 72 hours
Time to First Rescue Analgesia
Time Frame: From end of surgery to the administration of the first rescue analgesic
The exact time (in hours and minutes) from the end of surgery to the administration of the first rescue analgesic will be recorded.
From end of surgery to the administration of the first rescue analgesic
Total Analgesic Consumption
Time Frame: From end of surgery to postoperative 72 hours
The cumulative amount of all pain medications (opioid and non-opioid, oral and intravenous) administered within 3 days postoperatively, including total morphine equivalent consumption during 48 hours and 72 hours after surgery.
From end of surgery to postoperative 72 hours
Time to first postoperative flatus
Time Frame: Up to 72 hours postoperatively
The exact time (in hours and minutes) from the end of surgery to the first postoperative flatus will be recorded.
Up to 72 hours postoperatively
Quality of recovery
Time Frame: At 1 day after surgery
The quality of recovery after surgery will be evaluated using Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) at 1 day after surgery.
At 1 day after surgery
Sleep quality
Time Frame: From end of surgery to 3 days after surgery
The sleep quality after surgery will be evaluated daily for the first 3 postoperative days using Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ).
From end of surgery to 3 days after surgery
Postoperative anxiety
Time Frame: From end of surgery to 2 days after surgery
The anxiety after surgery will be evaluated daily for the first 2 postoperative days using Visual Analog Scale for Anxiety (NRS-anxiety).
From end of surgery to 2 days after surgery
Postoperative delirium
Time Frame: From end of surgery to 3 days after surgery
The postoperative delirium will be evaluated twice a day for the first 3 postoperative days using 3-Minute Diagnostic Interview for CAM (3D-CAM).
From end of surgery to 3 days after surgery
Length of Hospital Stay
Time Frame: Through hospital discharge, up to 14 days
Length of hospital stay measured as the number of days from the date of surgery to hospital discharge.
Through hospital discharge, up to 14 days
Adverse Effects
Time Frame: From end of surgery to 3 days after surgery
Incidence of nausea or vomiting, acute urinary retention, drowsiness, pruritus, and dizziness or any other reported complications will be recorded.
From end of surgery to 3 days after surgery
Gut microbiota
Time Frame: From 1 day before surgery to 2 days after surgery
Gut microbiota diversity (α and β), and correlation between relative abundance of specific microbial taxa and the effect of opioid-sparing anesthesia will be analyzed.
From 1 day before surgery to 2 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.
Massachusetts General Hospital

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

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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.
May 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.
April 1, 2027

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.
May 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).
May 5, 2026

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 8, 2026

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 15, 2026

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 15, 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 8, 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

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.
  • 2026P000949

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared due to concerns about patient privacy and the sensitive nature of the data collected.

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.

Yes

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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