Stellate Ganglion Block

August 5, 2026 updated by: University of Minnesota

Left Sided Stellate Ganglion Blocks Impact on the Rate of Post-operative Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Thoracic Surgery: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study is to determine if the addition of an ultrasound guided left sided stellate ganglion block with bupivacaine in patients undergoing esophagectomy, pneumonectomy, or lobectomy will result in lower rates of postoperative atrial fibrillation as compared to standard of care.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

48

Phase

  • Phase 4

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
    • Minnesota
      • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
        • Recruiting
        • University of Minnesota
        • 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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing esophagectomy, pneumonectomy, or lobectomy aged 18-85.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have an exclusion to regional anesthesia.
  • Patients who have exclusion to stellate blockade.
  • Patients who are pregnant assessed via self-report or pregnancy test if they have taken one

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: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Group 1
ultrasound with bupivacaine
Drug: 0.5% bupivacaine
an ultrasound guided left stellate ganglion block with 5 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine
Sham Comparator: Group 2
Ultrasound with saline
Other: Saline
an ultrasound guided left stellate ganglion block with 5 mL of saline

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
an ultrasound guided left stellate ganglion block with 5 mL of saline.
Time Frame: 168 hours after surgery
Incidence of Atrial fibrillation in the first 168 hours after surgery.
168 hours after surgery
Atrial fibrillation; Other arrhythmias; Adverse events.
Time Frame: 168 hours after surgery
Atrial fibrillation in first 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, and 144 hours; Other arrhythmias in first 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 hours; Adverse events.
168 hours after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Minnesota

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jacob Hutchins, University of Minnesota

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)

May 19, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 30, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 14, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 14, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

February 22, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 5, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ANES-2024-32720

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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