Rectus-Intercostal Fascial Plane Block for Liver Transplantation Donors

January 6, 2026 updated by: Istinye University

Evaluation of Postoperative Analgesic Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Rectus-Intercostal Fascial Plane Block in Living Liver Donors

Postoperative pain control plays a crucial role in enhancing recovery and improving early mobilization in living liver donors. The rectus-intercostal fascial plane (RIFP) block is a novel ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia technique that provides anterior abdominal wall analgesia by targeting the intercostal nerves between the rectus abdominis and intercostal muscle fascia.

This prospective, randomized controlled clinical study aims to evaluate the postoperative analgesic efficacy and opioid-sparing effects of the RIFP block compared with standard intravenous analgesia in living liver donors undergoing donor hepatectomy.

Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups:

Group 1 (RIFP Block): Patients receiving an ultrasound-guided rectus-intercostal fascial plane block using 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine at the end of surgery, in addition to standard IV PCA (morphine).

Group 2 (Control): Patients receiving only standard IV PCA (morphine) without regional block.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This prospective randomized controlled study will include living liver donors undergoing donor hepatectomy. Participants will be divided into two groups: the Rectus-Intercostal Fascial Plane (RIFP) Block Group and the Control Group.

In the RIFP group, patients will receive an ultrasound-guided RIFP block at the end of surgery and postoperative analgesia with intravenous morphine PCA. The control group will receive only intravenous morphine PCA without any regional block.

The primary outcome is total morphine consumption during the first 24 postoperative hours.

Secondary outcomes include pain scores at 1, 6, 12, and 24 hours, time to first rescue analgesia, amount of rescue analgesic used, and incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting.

This study aims to evaluate the postoperative analgesic efficacy and opioid-sparing effect of the RIFP block in living liver donors compared with standard intravenous analgesia.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

64

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:

  • Age between 18 and 75 years
  • Patients with American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) physical status I-II
  • Patients scheduled for a living donor hepatectomy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Allergy to local anesthetics
  • Coagulopathy
  • Skin infection at the block area
  • Advanced renal failure
  • Chronic pain syndromes
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Psychiatric disorders

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: Rectus Intercostal Plane Block Group
Rectus Intercostal Plane Block Group The patients in the Rectus Intercostal Plane Block group will receive a bilateral rectus intercostal plane block and patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine for postoperative analgesia.
Other: Rectus Intercostal Plane Block
Rectus intercostal plane block will be administered bilaterally at the end of the surgery and after skin closure under ultrasound guidance
Active Comparator: Control Group
The patients in the Control group will not receive any regional block and will receive PCA with morphine for postoperative analgesia.
Other: Control (No Block)
Ultrasound probe placement on the same region without needle insertion or local anesthetic injection to maintain blinding.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

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

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 6

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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