Clinical Tolerance of an Intraparotid Injection of Bupivacaine, Combined With Dexamethasone, After Parotidectomy for Benign Tumor (PAROCAINE)

September 4, 2026 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

Evaluation of the Clinical Tolerance of an Intraparotid Injection of Bupivacaine, Combined With Dexamethasone, After Parotidectomy for Benign Tumor - A Single-center Prospective Cohort Study.

There has been a paradigm shift toward less invasive surgical techniques for parotidectomies, primarily to mitigate post-surgical complications. However, preserving more parotid tissue than with traditional methods can lead to an increased incidence of salivary fistulas and sialoceles after parotidectomy. The incidence of sialoceles varies considerably from 4.9% to 39%, while salivary fistula rates after parotidectomy range from 1% to 21%. Other wound complications, such as wound dehiscence, inflammation, and infection, can also occur, typically within the first month following surgery. No preventive technique has yet demonstrated clear efficacy or superiority in clinical practice.

Bupivacaine is an amino-amide commonly used for local anesthesia. With its long-acting anesthetic effects, bupivacaine blocks the autonomic pathways (parasympathetic and sympathetic), then the sensory pathways, and finally the motor pathways. By providing prolonged blockade of the parasympathetic nerve pathways that induce salivary secretion, bupivacaine injected into the parotid tissue during surgery could be a potentially effective prophylactic agent for preventing salivary fistulas after parotidectomy. Certain adjuvants can be used locally in combination with bupivacaine to prolong the duration of nerve blocks and improve postoperative pain management. Dexamethasone is the most effective adjuvant to long-acting local anesthetics. This combination is widely used in routine practice.

Due to its sustained blockade of parasympathetic nerve fibers, intraparotid bupivacaine, combined with local dexamethasone, could be an effective tool for reducing various postoperative complications, including sialoceles and salivary fistulas, after partial parotidectomy. It could also play a major role in postoperative analgesia. Although bupivacaine is commonly used in surgical practice, there are no data regarding the injection of bupivacaine combined with dexamethasone into the parotid tissue to prevent salivary complications after partial parotidectomy. Therefore, the safety of its use when injected specifically into the parotid tissue has never been evaluated.

The aim of this pilot study is to assess the tolerability of intraparotid injection of bupivacaine combined with a local injection of dexamethasone after partial parotidectomy for a benign tumor.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.
10

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.
  • Early Phase 1

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

  • France
      • Nîmes, France, 30000
        • Recruiting
        • Centre Hospitalier de Nimes
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Benjamin Lallemant

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:

  • Validated surgical indication for partial parotidectomy for parotid tumor.
  • The patient must have given their free and informed consent and signed the consent form
  • The patient must be a member or beneficiary of a health insurance plan

Exclusion Criteria:

  • The subject is in a period of exclusion determined by a previous study
  • The patient is under safeguard of justice or state guardianship
  • History of allergic reaction to amino-amide-type local anesthetics.
  • Severe neurological history (epilepsy, peripheral neuropathies).
  • High-risk cardiovascular history (severe hypertension, arrhythmias, complete or incomplete heart block, heart failure, coronary artery disease, treatment with type 2 antiarrhythmic drugs).
  • Severe liver or kidney disease (severe liver failure or severe kidney failure).
  • Acidosis, sepsis.
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding patient.
  • Patient unable to give informed consent.
  • Patient for whom it is impossible to provide informed consent.

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: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Patients who undergoing partial parotidectomy
Drug: Intraparotid injection of bupivacaine/ dexamethasone
  • 20 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine (5 mg/mL), i.e., a dose of 100 mg;
  • 0.5 ml of dexamethasone (4 mg/mL), i.e., a dose of 2 mg.

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
Local pain post-injection
Time Frame: Day 15
0-10 visual analog scale
Day 15
Local intolerance post-injection
Time Frame: Day 15
Redness, edema, warmth, inflammation: Yes/no
Day 15
Local neurological disturbances post-injection
Time Frame: Day 15
Paresthesia, hypoesthesia: Yes/no
Day 15
Allergic reactions post-injection
Time Frame: Day 15
Rash, edema, urticaria: Yes/no
Day 15
Heart rate
Time Frame: Day 15
beats per minutes
Day 15
Blood pressure
Time Frame: Day 15
mm Hg
Day 15
Loss of consciousness
Time Frame: Day 15
Yes/no
Day 15
Seizures
Time Frame: Day 15
Yes/no
Day 15
Nausea and vomiting
Time Frame: Day 15
Yes/no
Day 15
Blood gluose level
Time Frame: Day 15
mmol/L
Day 15
Post-parotidectomy facial nerve function alteration post-injection
Time Frame: Day 15
Facial paralysis or facial nerve damage: Yes/no
Day 15
Injection site damage
Time Frame: Day 15
Hematoma or infection: Yes/no
Day 15

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
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 0
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 0
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 1
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 1
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 2
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 2
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 4
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 4
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 6
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 6
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 9
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 9
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 12
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 12
Postoperative pain
Time Frame: Day 15
Measure on a 0-10 visual analog scale
Day 15
Prevalence of salivary fistulas or sialomas
Time Frame: Day 15
Yes/no
Day 15
wound dehiscence
Time Frame: Day 15
yes/no
Day 15
inflammation of wound
Time Frame: Day 15
Yes/no
Day 15
infection of wound
Time Frame: Day 15
Yes/no
Day 15
Feasibility of bupivacaine/dexamethasone
Time Frame: Day 0
Successful administion of bupivacaine/dexamethasone injection: Yes/no
Day 0

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.
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Benjamin Lallemant, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

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 18, 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.
June 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.
June 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).
September 4, 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.
September 4, 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.
September 10, 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.
September 10, 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.
September 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.
September 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.
  • LOCAL/2025/BL01
  • 2025 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract: Faculty of Social Sciences Scientific Grant at the University of Gdańsk)
  • 2025-524358-32-00 (Other Identifier: CTIS)

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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