Clinical Trial of Endoscopically Guided Injection of Exparel (Bupivacaine) for the Treatment of Craniofacial Pain

April 23, 2026 updated by: Peter Hwang, Stanford University

Prospective, Randomized, Double-blinded, Placebo-controlled, Cross-over Trial of Endoscopically Guided Injection of Exparel (Bupivacaine) Towards the Ipsilateral Pterygopalatine Fossa for the Treatment of Craniofacial Pain

Exparel has a proven efficacy in providing pain relief for up to 72 hours with a single-dose administration at surgical sites. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of endoscopically-guided injection of Exparel (Bupivacaine) for the treatment of craniofacial pain. This study would be conducted in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo- controlled, and cross-over fashion. We aim to investigate whether the administration of Exparel (Bupivacaine) to the lateral nasal wall may positively impact craniofacial pain and functional outcomes, in patients who experience relief with the topical application of Lidocaine (routinely given prior to almost all ENT endoscopy).

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

15

Phase

  • Phase 2

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 Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Stanford, California, United States, 94304
        • Recruiting
        • Peter H Hwang
        • Contact:

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

18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with a chief complaint of craniofacial pain (migraine, cluster headache, trigeminal autonomic cephalgia, sphenopalatine ganglioneuraligia, paroxysmal hemicrania) who has Stanford Pain & ENT clinic visit

Exclusion Criteria:

  • age <18 or >80
  • pregnant women
  • economically disadvantaged (not able to afford clinic visits/treatments)
  • decisionally impaired (unable to obtain informed consent)
  • has allergy to bupivacaine
  • unable or unwilling to participate plans to participate in another clinical study at any time during this 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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Exparel
Patients receive an endoscopically guided injection of Exparel (Bupivacaine).
Drug: Exparel (Bupivacaine Liposome)
Non-opioid postsurgical analgesic used in the management of postsurgical pain; 133 mg/10 mL (13.3 mg/mL) single-dose vial (per Pacira), study administers 3cc bilaterally
Placebo Comparator: Saline
Patients receive an endoscopically guided injection of saline
Drug: Saline
Prescription medicine used for fluid and electrolyte replenishment for intravenous administration; Exparel-matched Placebo treatment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change of Pain Score
Time Frame: Baseline to day 21
Scores range from 0-10 (0=no pain, 10=worst pain)
Baseline to day 21

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change of Associated Symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline to day 21
Changes of associated symptoms, including nausea, photophobia, use of rescue medication, relapse of headache, and/or change in headache disability scores
Baseline to day 21

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Stanford University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Hwang, MD, Stanford University

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)

February 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 11, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

June 18, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 60832

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD will be kept confidential and private and won't be used for any other studies or shared with other researchers.

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

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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