Interscalene vs Infraspinatus-teres Minor (ITM) Interfascial Block in Shoulder Surgery

December 22, 2025 updated by: Kadem Koc

Comparison of Postoperative Analgesic Efficacy Between the Interscalene Block and Infraspinatus-Teres Minor Interfascial Blocks in Patients Undergoing Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery

Postoperative pain is important following arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Postoperative effective pain treatment provides early mobilization and shorter hospital stay.Ultrasound (US)-guided brachial plexus blocks such as interscalen and supraclavicular block are usually performed. Interscalene brachial plexus block is one of the most preferred techniques among these.

Due to the phrenic nerve paralysis frequently seen in interscalene block, alternative diaphragm-sparing block techniques have emerged over time. One of these is the Infraspinatus teres minor interfascial block. Infraspinatus teres minor interfascial block can block both the suprascapular nerve and the axillary nerve, which are effective in the innervation of the shoulder, with a single-point injection.

The main aim of our study was to show that there is no difference between interscalene block and infraspinatus-teres-minor interfascial block in terms of their effects on postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

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

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:

  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification I-II-III
  • Scheduled for arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anesthesia

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of bleeding diathesis
  • receiving anticoagulant treatment
  • infection of the skin at the site of the needle puncture
  • pregnancy or lactation
  • patients who do not accept the procedure
  • Allergy to local anesthetics
  • Chronic pain syndromes requiring opioid intake

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Interscalene Block
Patients randomized to receive interscalene block
Other: Preoperative block application (İntersclane Block)
Before surgery, patients will receive a unilateral interscalene block under ultrasound guidance.
Experimental: Infraspinatus-teres minor (ITM) interfascial block
Patients randomized to receive Infraspinatus-teres minor (ITM) interfascial block
Other: Preoperative block application (Infraspinatus-teres minor interfascial block)
Before surgery, patients will receive a unilateral infraspinatus-teres minor interfascial block under ultrasound guidance.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
24 hours opioid consumption
Time Frame: Time Frame: up to 24 hours
morphine consumptions via patient controlled analgesia device for both group will be recorded
Time Frame: up to 24 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sensory and Motor block score
Time Frame: 30 minutes post injection
Sensorimotor block assessed every 5 minutes until 30 minutes using a 8-point composite. Block level will be evaluated between 0-8 points score
30 minutes post injection
Numeric rating scale for postoperative pain intensity
Time Frame: up to 24 hours (Will be evaluated at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 hours)
Evaluated with a Numerical rating scale (NRS) from 0 to 10. (0=no pain; 10=worst imaginable pain)
up to 24 hours (Will be evaluated at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 hours)
Quality of Recovery - 15 score
Time Frame: Postoperative 24th hour
The impact of surgical and anesthetic interventions on perioperative quality of life and ability to resume routine life activities will be assessed using the Quality of Recovery (QoR) tool. Each question is scored between 0 and 10. The survey result varies between 0-150 points based on the answers given by the patients. Higher scores indicate better recovery.
Postoperative 24th hour

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Kadem Koc

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, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

August 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 13, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 19, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

February 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 29, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 22, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SamsunOm

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

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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