A Study Of Stellate Ganglion Blockade With Liposomal Bupivacaine In Preventing Atrial Fibrillation After Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery

September 4, 2026 updated by: Juan Ripoll Sanz, Mayo Clinic

Effectiveness Of Liposomal Bupivacaine Stellate Ganglion Blockade In Preventing Atrial Fibrillation After Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is assess the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) within one week of surgery in patients who receive pre-surgical stellate ganglion blockade with liposomal bupivacaine, compared to those receiving a saline placebo, using continuous electrocardiographic monitoring via wearable ECG devices.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

450

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
      • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
        • Mayo Clinic in Rochester

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:

  • Adults aged ≥40 years scheduled to undergo isolated coronary artery bypass grafting will be eligible.
  • Cases will also remain eligible if, after the initial surgical listing, additional procedures-such as valvular interventions or septal myectomy-are performed, OR if coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is listed as the primary intervention with other procedures noted as possible additional interventions.
  • Cases will also remain eligible if additional procedures-such as left atrial appendage ligation, MAZE procedure, cryotherapy, or pulmonary vein isolation-are concomitantly listed with the CABG.

Exclusion criteria:

  • Permanent atrial fibrillation
  • Mechanical circulatory support implant or explant
  • Procedures not requiring cardiopulmonary bypass
  • Heart and/or lung transplant patients
  • Active infection/sepsis
  • Pre-operative anti-arrhythmic use (aside from beta-blockers).
  • Participant has a known allergy to adhesives or hydrogels.
  • Participant has a visible skin injury or broken skin at the location for study device placement.
  • Participant does not have the competency to wear the device for the prescribed patching period.
  • Participant has a neuro-stimulator, as it may disrupt the quality of ECG data.
  • Participants who are pregnant. In accordance with Mayo Clinic's standard cardiac surgery protocol, all women of childbearing potential undergo routine preoperative pregnancy testing. Pregnancy status will therefore be confirmed prior to enrollment. Any participant with a positive pregnancy test will be deemed ineligible and will not be enrolled in the study.
  • Participants who lack the capacity to provide informed consent will not be approached or enrolled in this study.

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Stellate ganglion block using liposomal bupivacaine
10 mL of liposomal bupivacaine 133 mg (133 mg/10 ml or 1.33%)
Drug: Liposomal bupivacaine
Patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting will receive a stellate ganglion block using liposomal bupivacaine prior to surgery
Placebo Comparator: Sham block using saline placebo
10 mL of saline placebo injected in the plane of the right stellate ganglion
Drug: Placebo
Patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting will receive a saline placebo injection to the stellate ganglion prior to surgery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of new-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) within one week of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery
Time Frame: 1 week
Total number of patients to experience postoperative atrial fibrillation within one week of CABG surgery.
1 week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total duration of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) episodes within the first postoperative week
Time Frame: 1 week
Duration of postoperative atrial fibrillation episodes will assessed via continuous ECG monitoring and reported in minutes
1 week
Number of patients with successful stellate ganglion blockade
Time Frame: 1 week
Success rate of the stellate ganglion blockade is defined as a ≥1.0°C increase in ipsilateral hand skin temperature from baseline and/or a reduction in skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA) as measured by noninvasive surface recordings pre- and post-block.
1 week

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Mayo Clinic

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Juan G. Ripoll Sanz, MD, Mayo Clinic

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.

Helpful Links

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 (Estimated)

September 14, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 30, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 30, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 4, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 25-009333

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

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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