Suprainguinal Fascia Iliaca Block With vs Without Dexmedetomidine

March 24, 2026 updated by: Vendhan Ramanujam, Rhode Island Hospital

Comparison of Suprainguinal Fascia Iliac Block With and Without Dexmedetomidine as an Adjunct to Ropivacaine for Postoperative Analgesia Following Hip Surgery: a Randomized, Double-blinded Study.

The investigators are evaluating postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing hip replacement surgery performed with either spinal or general anesthesia, who also receive a suprainguinal fascia iliaca block using either perineural ropivacaine alone or ropivacaine combined with dexmedetomidine.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients undergoing hip replacement surgery often receive a single-shot suprainguinal fascia iliaca block as a part of the primary anesthetic and multimodal postoperative analgesic strategy. However, the analgesic effect of a single-shot block typically diminishes after several hours and may be inconsistent beyond 24 hours. Adding dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 agonist, to the local anesthetic has been shown to prolong block duration and reduce postoperative opioid requirements. Investigating its use in suprainguinal fascia iliaca blocks for total hip arthroplasty may clarify its clinical effectiveness. The investigators hypothesize that patients receiving ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine will have a significantly longer time to first analgesic request compared to those receiving ropivacaine alone.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

120

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

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 elective total hip arthroplasty
  • 18-80 years old
  • ASA 1-3 classifications

Exclusion Criteria:

  • ASA classification of 4 or greater
  • Infection at the site of nerve blockade
  • Coagulopathy
  • Known allergy to study medications
  • Chronic opioid consumption (>3 months)
  • Currently using lidocaine patches
  • Pre-existing neuropathy
  • A history of CVA
  • High grade atrioventricular block (cardiac conduction system impairment)
  • Organ dysfunction (cardiac failure, respiratory failure, end stage renal disease, hepatic dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia)
  • Morbid obesity (≥40 kg/m2)
  • Prior surgery in supra and/or infrainguinal region
  • Non-English-speaking participants

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Ropivacaine
30 ml of 0.25% ropivacaine; No dexmedetomidine
Drug: Ropivacaine

In the experimental arm, ropivacaine (30 mL of 0.25%) is administered with dexmedetomidine.

In the active comparator arm, ropivacaine (30 mL of 0.25%) is administered alone without any dexmedetomidine medication.
Experimental: Ropivacaine plus Dexmedetomidine
30 ml of 0.25% ropivacaine; 1 mcg/kg of dexmedetomidine
Drug: Ropivacaine

In the experimental arm, ropivacaine (30 mL of 0.25%) is administered with dexmedetomidine.

In the active comparator arm, ropivacaine (30 mL of 0.25%) is administered alone without any dexmedetomidine medication.

Drug: Dexmedetomidine
Participants in the experimental arm receive a preoperative suprainguinal fascia iliaca block consisting of 30 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine combined with perineural dexmedetomidine at a dose of 1 mcg/kg.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Time of administration of first analgesic after the surgery
Time Frame: Time to first analgesic request, defined as the interval (in minutes) from block administration to the first request for rescue analgesia, assessed for up to 24 hours.
Time to first analgesic request, defined as the interval (in minutes) from block administration to the first request for rescue analgesia, assessed for up to 24 hours.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of Recovery
Time Frame: 24 hours
The QoR-15 questionnaire has 15 questions that assess patient-reported quality of a patient's postoperative recovery using a 11-point numerical rating scale that leads to a minimum score of 0 (poor recovery) and a maximum score of 150 (excellent recovery).
24 hours
Total opioid consumption (converted to morphine milligram equivalents)
Time Frame: From the start of surgery through 48 hours postoperatively
Intraoperative period; PACU; and at 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours following surgery.
From the start of surgery through 48 hours postoperatively
Pain Scores
Time Frame: Up to two hours [post anesthesia recovery unit], 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours after surgery
Patients will be asked to rate their pain score on a 11-point scale (0 = no pain to 10 = excruciating pain).
Up to two hours [post anesthesia recovery unit], 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Rhode Island Hospital

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)

January 20, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 5, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 31, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 24, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2264738

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

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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