External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block for Liver Transplantation Recipient

January 6, 2026 updated by: Istinye University

External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block for Postoperative Analgesia in Liver Transplantation

Postoperative pain management is one of the key factors in improving rehabilitation and accelerating recovery. The external oblique intercostal plane block can be used to provide abdominal wall analgesia for effective pain control in abdominal surgery.

The aim of this study is to investigate the postoperative analgesic efficacy of the external oblique intercostal plane block in liver transplant recipients.

The investigators will compare a group receiving the external oblique intercostal plane block with a control group to determine whether this block provides effective postoperative analgesia in liver transplant recipients.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients scheduled for liver transplantation will be separated into 2 groups: External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block Group and Control Group.

Patients in the External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block Group will be performed bilateral External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block at the end of the surgery and after skin closure and will receive patient controlled analgesia with morphine for postoperative analgesia.

Patients in the Control Group will not receive any block procedure and will receive patient controlled analgesia with morphine for postoperative analgesia.

Morphine consumption for first postoperative 48 hours, visual analog scale scores, time to need for first rescue analgesia, amount of rescue analgesic drug, incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and Quality of Recovery-15 scores will be recorded.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

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 Contact

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:

  • Adult patients aged 18 to 75 years
  • Scheduled for elective orthotopic liver transplantation (living or deceased donor)
  • J-shaped or Mercedes incision planned
  • ASA physical status III-IV
  • Normal or acceptable coagulation profile at the time of block application (INR ≤ 1.5, platelet count ≥ 50,000/mm³, fibrinogen ≥ 150 mg/dL)
  • Able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Coagulopathy at the time of block application (INR > 1.5, platelet count < 50,000/mm³, or fibrinogen < 150 mg/dL)
  • Known allergy or hypersensitivity to local anesthetics (amide group)
  • Local infection or skin lesion at the block injection site
  • Severe hemodynamic instability requiring high-dose vasopressor support
  • Chronic opioid use (≥30 mg oral morphine equivalents per day for ≥30 days before surgery)
  • Severe hepatic encephalopathy or cognitive impairment preventing use of PCA or pain scoring
  • Emergency or re-transplantation surgery

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: External oblique intercostal plane block group
The patients in the External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block group will receive bilateral external oblique intercostal plane block and patient controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine for postoperative analgesia.
Other: External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block
External oblique intercostal plane block will be administered at the end of the surgery and after skin closure
Sham Comparator: Control Group
The patients in the Control group will not receive any regional block and will receive patient controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine for postoperative analgesia.
Other: Sham Procedure
Sham Block (Ultrasound probe placement without needle insertion or injection)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The amount of morphine required by the patient and given by the device will be recorded for the first 24 hours
Time Frame: Postoperative 24 hours
Postoperative 24 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postoperative visual analog scale scores
Time Frame: Postoperative 24 hours
Postoperative pain will be assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS) (from 0 = no pain to 10 = maximum possible pain) for the first 24 hours.
Postoperative 24 hours
Incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting
Time Frame: postoperative 24 hours
Number of patients developing postoperative nausea and vomiting will be recorded for the first 24 hours
postoperative 24 hours
Rescue analgesic drug consumption
Time Frame: postoperative 24 hours
The amount of rescue analgesic in mg required by the patient will be recorded for the first 24 hours
postoperative 24 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Istinye 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)

December 22, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 14, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 14, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

November 18, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • anestezi 5

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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