Impact of Propranolol on the Prognosis of Patients With Decompensated Cirrhosis and MELD Score > 9

June 11, 2026 updated by: Xingshun Qi, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region

Impact of Propranolol on the Prognosis of Patients With Decompensated Cirrhosis and MELD Score > 9: a Non-inferiority Randomized Controlled Trial

Non selective beta blockers (NSBBs), such as propranolol and nadolol, are mainstay therapies for portal hypertension in cirrhosis, but their efficacy and safety vary depending on the stage of the disease. Emerging evidence suggests that NSBBs may worsen the prognosis of advanced cirrhosis, especially in patients with a model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score of >9. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effects of the use of propranolol as recommended by the guideline on the prognosis in cirrhotic patients with a MELD score of >9.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial. A total of 466 decompensated cirrhotic patients with a MELD score of >9 will be enrolled. Participants will be stratified based on the presence or absence of acute decompensation at enrollment, and then randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to conventional treatment combined with or without propranolol groups. All patients will receive standard medical therapy in both groups, and then regularly followed. The primary outcome is further decompensation. The secondary outcomes include recompensation and death.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

466

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 Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • China
    • Liaoning
      • Shenyang, Liaoning, China
        • Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command (formerly called General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area)
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

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' age ≥18 years;
  • patients with a definitive diagnosis of liver cirrhosis;
  • patients with a MELD score of >9;
  • patients with a history of decompensation or those who are experiencing their first decompensation, such as ascites, variceal bleeding, or hepatic encephalopathy (HE);
  • patients' informed consents.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients without a definite indication for NSBBs;
  • patients with an absolute contraindication of NSBBs (severe bronchospasm, asthma, severe psychosis, high-degree atrioventricular block, etc.);
  • patients with hypersensitivity to NSBBs;
  • patients who had been treated with NSBBs before 2 weeks of enrollment;
  • patients with occlusive portal vein thrombosis;
  • patients who had undergone liver transplantation;
  • patients who had undergone transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS);
  • patients with a definitive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma;
  • patients with an estimated life time of <12 months due to the presence of any comorbidities;
  • patients who are currently pregnant or breast-feeding.

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Conventional treatment without propranolol
Patients are provided with conventional supportive treatment only, but without nonselective beta blockers.
Other: conventional therapy
Conventional treatment of decompensated cirrhosis mainly includes anti-hepatic fibrosis drugs, albumin infusion, diuretics, peritoneal drainage, esophageal variceal ligation, endoscopic tissue adhesive injection, blood purification, and liver transplantation.
Active Comparator: Conventional treatment combined with propranolol
Patients are administered with propranolol in addition to conventional treatment.
Drug: propranolol
Propranolol will be started with 10-20 mg/day for the propranolol group, which will be gradually increased to the maximum tolerance dosage or achieve a heart rate of 55-60 beats per minute and a systolic blood pressure of 90mmHg.
Other Names:
  • Inderal

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The time from randomization to the occurrence of further decompensation
Time Frame: Time to first further decompensation event, assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)

Further decompensation is defined as any of the following conditions:

  1. the occurrence of a second portal hypertension driven decompensation event (ascites, variceal bleeding or HE) and/or non-obstructive jaundice;
  2. the occurrence of recurrent variceal bleeding, refractory ascites, recurrent HE, SBP, and/or HRS-AKI;
  3. the occurrence of ascites, HE, or jaundice in patients with bleeding alone after recovery from bleeding, according to the Baveno VII consensus.
Time to first further decompensation event, assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The time from randomization to the occurrence of recompensation
Time Frame: Time to first recompensation event, assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)

Recompensation is defined as all of the following criteria are met:

  1. removal/suppression/cure of the primary cause of cirrhosis (e.g., removal of hepatitis C virus, sustained suppression of hepatitis B virus, or sustained alcohol abstinence in alcoholic cirrhosis);
  2. resolution of ascites in the setting of discontinuation of diuretics, absence of HE in the setting of discontinuation of lactulose/rifaximin, and absence of recurrent variceal bleeding within at least 12 months;
  3. stable improvement of liver function (e.g., albumin, international normalized ratio, bilirubin)
Time to first recompensation event, assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
The time from randomization to the occurrence of death
Time Frame: assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
All-cause mortality during the study period
assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
The composite endpoint of further decompensation and death
Time Frame: assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
The hierarchical composite endpoint of death and further decompensation
Time Frame: assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks)
The time from randomization to the occurrence of individual decompensation events
Time Frame: assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks

Individual decompensation event is defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of each event during the follow-up period. Individual decompensation events include:

  1. first variceal bleeding (in patients without prior bleeding history);
  2. variceal rebleeding (in patients with prior bleeding history);
  3. ascites;
  4. HE;
  5. jaundice;
  6. hepatorenal syndrome (HRS);
  7. SBP
assessed from randomization up to the end of the study (maximum of approximately 96 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Li He, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • XHNKKY-NSBBs-2.2

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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