Evaluation of Trigeminal Nerve Blockade

Evaluation of Trigeminal Nerve Blockade in the Pterygopalatine Fossa for Cleft Palate Repair: a Pilot Study

Cleft palate repair requires high doses of opioids for pain control postop. An alternative approach is placement of nerve blocks in the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally, blocking the maxillary nerve & covering the entire midface. Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve may provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving time to oral intake, pain control and time to hospital discharge.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Cleft Palate; Mouth Abnormalities; Birth Defect
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Ropivacaine; Other: Sham Comparator

Detailed Description

Cleft palate is a common congenital anomaly for which surgical repair is indicated during early childhood. The surgical repair of cleft palate is very painful, and generally requires high doses of opioids for adequate pain control, placing children at risk for post-operative respiratory depression and airway obstruction. An alternative approach to post-operative analgesia for cleft palate repair is the placement of nerve blocks in the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally, blocking the maxillary nerve and covering the entire mid-face. This randomized, double-blinded study will investigate the utility of maxillary nerve blockade in controlling post-operative pain, decreasing opioid requirements, improving post-operative oral food and drink intake, and decreasing hospital length-of-stay after cleft palate repair.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 40
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610-3003
      • UF Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 months to 5 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient presenting for palatoplasty for cleft palate only.
• Parent/guardian consents to participate
• Normal oral food and water intake before surgery
• No underlying chronic pain condition

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parent/guardian refuses to consent
• Patient requires revision surgery on the palate
• Patient requires surgery in addition to palatoplasty, including, but not limited to pharyngeal flap or soft palate lengthening procedures.
• Any underlying chronic pain condition
• Presence of any other factor which, at the discretion of any member of the study team, makes the patient a poor candidate for block placement.
• Presence of any other factor which, at the discretion of any member of the study team, makes the patient a poor candidate for research participation.
• History of Pierre Robin sequence
• Planned or anticipated need for any type of artificial airway post-op

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade; A single injection into the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally of 0.2% ropivacaine at a dose of 0.15 mL/kg (block) after the induction of general anesthesia.	Drug: Ropivacaine; A single injection into the pterygopalatine fossa bilaterally of 0.2% ropivacaine at a dose of 0.15 mL/kg (block) after the induction of general anesthesia; Other Names: Naropin
Sham Comparator: 25 Gauge needle; Subcutaneous placement of a 25 Gauge needle as a sham comparator after the induction of general anesthesia. Nothing will be injected.	Other: Sham Comparator; The subcutaneous placement of a 25 Gauge needle as a sham control after the induction of general anesthesia. Nothing will be injected.; Other Names: Control

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in time to oral intake following palatoplasty for cleft palate	Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve to provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving time to oral intake after surgery.	Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in amount of opioids following palatoplasty for cleft palate	Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve to provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving pain control after surgery.	Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.
Change in length of hospitalization following palatoplasty for cleft palate	Application of bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blockade of the infraorbital nerve to provide effective analgesia for cleft lip repair, improving time to hospital discharge after surgery.	Change from baseline (post-op) and through study completion, an average of 96 hours.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Florida
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Cameron R Smith, MD, PhD, University of Florida

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 20, 2018
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 6, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 13, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 15, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 20, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 15, 2026
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases; Mouth Diseases; Stomatognathic Diseases; Jaw Diseases; Jaw Abnormalities; Maxillofacial Abnormalities; Craniofacial Abnormalities; Musculoskeletal Abnormalities; Stomatognathic System Abnormalities; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; Congenital Abnormalities; Cleft Palate; Mouth Abnormalities; Organic Chemicals; Anilides; Amides; Aniline Compounds; Amines; Ropivacaine
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB201801011; OCR18511 (Other Identifier: University of Florida)

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