Sciatic Technique Comparison of Nerve Blockade for Pain Control Following Hamstring Autograft Harvest in Adolescents

April 1, 2026 updated by: Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Sciatic Peripheral Nerve Blockade for Pain Control Following Hamstring Autograft Harvest in Adolescents: A Comparison of Two Techniques

The purpose of this research is to compare the effect of single-injection sciatic PNB to continuous sciatic PNB on 1) postoperative pain control as measured by self-reported pain scores, pain medication use, and unplanned hospital admission due to poor pain control, 2) active knee flexion, and 3) patient satisfaction with pain control following ACL reconstruction with a hamstring autograft. The results of this research have the potential to positively impact pain control for the adolescent population undergoing this surgical procedure and foster responsible utilization of limited resources.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

SPECIFIC AIM 1. The first aim of the study is to explore the impact of sciatic PNB technique on hamstring donor site pain control postoperatively.

H1.a. The extended duration of analgesia offered by continuous sciatic PNB decreases pain scores during the initial 72 hours following hamstring autograft harvest when compared to single-injection sciatic PNB.

H1.b. The extended duration of analgesia offered by continuous sciatic PNB decreases oral pain medication use during the initial 72 hours following hamstring autograft harvest when compared to single-injection sciatic PNB.

H1.c. The extended duration of analgesia offered by continuous sciatic PNB decreases the incidence of unplanned admission due to poor pain control during the initial 72 hours following hamstring autograft harvest when compared to single-injection sciatic PNB.

SPECIFIC AIM 2. The second aim of the study is to explore the impact of sciatic PNB technique on active knee flexion postoperatively.

H2. The extended duration of analgesia offered by continuous sciatic PNB does not delay active knee flexion during the initial 72 hours following hamstring autograft harvest when compared to single-injection sciatic PNB.

SPECIFIC AIM 3. The third aim of the study is to explore the impact of sciatic PNB technique on patient satisfaction with postoperative pain control.

H3.1. The extended duration of analgesia offered by continuous sciatic PNB improves patient satisfaction during the initial 72 hours following hamstring autograft harvest when compared to single-injection sciatic PNB.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

141

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45229
        • Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 14 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

A subject may be INCLUDED in this study if:

  1. The subject is male or female;
  2. The subject is of any racial or ethnic group;
  3. The subject is age 10 years to 18 years (inclusive);
  4. The subject is scheduled for the following: Unilateral ACL reconstruction with a hamstring autograft under general anesthesia on an outpatient basis, and not being performed in conjunction with any other surgical procedures;
  5. The subject is American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) patient classification I-II;
  6. The subject or legally authorized representative has consented to femoral and sciatic peripheral nerve blockade for the procedure and the consent for peripheral nerve blockade has been obtained by a clinician (MD, DO, CRNA or APN) authorized to obtain consent;
  7. The subject's legally authorized representative has given written informed consent to participate in the study and when appropriate, the subject has given assent or consent to participate.

Exclusion Criteria:

A subject will be EXCLUDED from this study if:

  1. Additional surgical procedures are being performed concurrently;
  2. The subject is ASA classification > II;
  3. The subject has pre-existing allergies to amide local anesthetics;
  4. The subject receives sedation preoperatively;
  5. The subject is schedule for overnight hospital admission;
  6. The subject has any other condition, which in the opinion of the principal investigator, would not be suitable for participation in the study, including but not limited to coagulopathy, preexisting central or peripheral nervous systems disorders, and local infection or sores at the anticipated site of needle insertion;
  7. Unsuccessful PNB or CPI catheter placement occurs during the study. -

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Continuous sciatic PNB
If a CPI catheter is placed, the CPI catheter will be placed under ultra-sound guidance, with the tip of the catheter being placed immediately adjacent to the sciatic nerve, after the local anesthesia has been deposited. CPI catheters will only remain in-situ for 48 hours.
Drug: Continuous sciatic PNB

Continuous sciatic PNB entails placing a continuous perineural infusion (CPI) catheter so that local anesthetic may be released slowly but continuously adjacent to the sciatic nerve (perineural) for several days postoperatively. The continuous PNB has the ability to reliably provide analgesia on subsequent postoperative days.

Participants my be randomized to receive an additional experimental continuous pain ball during surgery which can provide up to 48 hours of pain relief.
Active Comparator: Single-injection sciatic PNB
Under ultrasound-guidance, the sciatic nerve can readily be identified in the posterior thigh. The nerve appears hyperechoic and can be traced distally to the popliteal fossa, where it divides into the tibial and common peroneal nerves. Local anesthesia is injected under real-time visualization following a negative aspiration. If a single-injection block is done, local anesthesia is deposited adjacent to the sciatic nerve within the fascial plane, but not within the epineurium. As such, single-injection sciatic PNB, which can last up to 24 hours, should provide adequate analgesia precluding the need for oral narcotic or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications following ACL reconstruction with a hamstring autograft.
Drug: Single-injection sciatic PNB
Single-injection sciatic PNB is a regional anesthetic technique employed to anesthetize the sciatic nerve with a single dose of local anesthetic. This technique offers pain control for a limited amount of time based on the volume and concentration of local anesthetic used.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Reduction
Time Frame: 72 Hours
Guardian collects Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pain score. The range is 0 - 10. 0 being no pain, 10 being the worst pain imaginable.
72 Hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jamie Furstein, CRNA, AANA Foundation

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 (Actual)

March 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 11, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 26, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

October 28, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2014-6533

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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