Catheter Redosing of Autonomic Neural Blockade After Sleeve Gastrectomy

June 13, 2026 updated by: Universidad Simón Bolívar

Targeted Temporary In Situ Catheter Redosing of Autonomic Neural Blockade for Breakthrough Symptoms After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Postoperative visceral pain and autonomic symptoms after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy may reappear earlier in selected high-risk patients despite standard intraoperative autonomic neural blockade (ANB). Temporary in situ catheter placement permits postoperative ANB redosing when breakthrough visceral symptoms occur.

This prospective single-arm observational study will evaluate the feasibility, safety, and clinical effectiveness of temporary ANB catheter placement and selective postoperative redosing in high-risk patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Autonomic neural blockade (ANB) selectively modulates visceral pain and autonomic symptoms after minimally invasive upper gastrointestinal surgery. Prior randomized trials have demonstrated reductions in pain, analgesic requirements, PONV, and anesthetic consumption following ANB during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). However, breakthrough visceral symptoms may occur in selected patients after blockade wanes.

A prior feasibility study by our group demonstrated that temporary in situ catheter placement for postoperative ANB redosing after LSG is technically feasible and safe, establishing catheter selection, placement strategy, and anatomical targets.

This prospective pilot study evaluates the clinical utility of selective postoperative ANB redosing in predefined high-risk patients.

All participants will undergo standard intraoperative ANB, TAP block, and temporary catheter placement in one of three anatomically validated paragastric/celiac pathway locations. Scheduled acetaminophen will be administered postoperatively.

Prior to any redosing, the treating investigator will clinically assess whether symptoms are consistent with visceral/autonomic breakthrough rather than somatic/incisional pain. Pain characteristics suggesting visceral origin include diffuse, deep, poorly localized epigastric/substernal discomfort, associated nausea/vomiting, autonomic symptoms, or pain disproportionate to abdominal wall tenderness.

Patients meeting redosing criteria will receive catheter redosing with 15 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine plus 4 mg dexamethasone. The minimum interval between re-dosing will be eight hours.

Concomitant hiatal hernia repair will be recorded for all patients, given the potential influence of distal phrenic nerve blockade on postoperative symptom patterns.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

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

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 laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with one or more of the following risk factors for breakthrough visceral/autonomic symptoms:

  • Female sex age <30 years
  • Prior history of severe postoperative pain after abdominal surgery
  • Prior history of significant postoperative nausea/vomiting
  • History of opioid intolerance or significant opioid-related adverse effects
  • Allergy/intolerance to multiple postoperative analgesics/antiemetics
  • Concomitant hiatal hernia repair
  • Surgeon's judgment of elevated visceral symptom risk based on prior institutional experience

Exclusion Criteria:•

  • Contraindication to local anesthetics or dexamethasone
  • Chronic opioid dependence
  • Severe psychiatric or cognitive impairment limiting symptom assessment
  • Pregnancy
  • Conversion to open surgery
  • Inability or unwillingness to comply with the postoperative reporting protocol.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Catheter Re-dosing for Breakthrough Symptoms After LSG
Participants with breakthrough symptoms, defined as visceral pain of 4/10 or higher, postoperative nausea, or vomiting, will receive 15 mL of bupivacaine 0.5% plus dexamethasone 4 mg through the temporary catheter. Symptom response will be recorded 15 minutes after administration. Catheter re-dosing may be repeated if breakthrough visceral/autonomic symptoms recur, provided that at least 8 hours have elapsed since the prior dose and the participant remains under direct institutional supervision. The catheter will be removed 24 hours postoperatively or before hospital discharge, whichever occurs first.
Other: Bupivacaine 0.5% and Dexamethasone via Temporary Catheter
Autonomic neural blockade (ANB) re-dosing will be performed by administering bupivacaine 0.5% and dexamethasone through a temporary catheter placed in the paragastric area during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Clinical Response to autonomic neural blockade(ANB) Redosing
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Change in visceral pain score measured on a 10-point visual analog scale before and after autonomic neural blockade re-dosing. A clinically meaningful response is defined as a reduction of 2 or more points.
Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Resolution of Postoperative Nausea or Vomiting After ANB Re-dosing
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Resolution of postoperative nausea or vomiting when present before autonomic neural blockade re-dosing, assessed as present or absent after treatment.
Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Proportion of Participants With Successful Temporary Catheter Placement and Function
Time Frame: Intraoperative through 24 hours postoperatively
Successful temporary catheter placement and function, assessed as a binary yes/no measure. Success is defined as intraoperative placement of the catheter in the intended paragastric location with catheter patency sufficient to allow postoperative administration of the study intervention if clinically indicated.
Intraoperative through 24 hours postoperatively

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of Clinically Significant Breakthrough Visceral Symptoms Despite Standard Intraoperative ANB
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Proportion of enrolled patients requiring at least one postoperative catheter re-dosing.
Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Number of Re-dosing Events Per Patient
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Total number of postoperative autonomic neural blockade catheter re-dosing episodes administered to each participant during the postoperative catheter-use period.
Up to 24 hours postoperatively
Safety of Temporary ANB Catheter Technique
Time Frame: 8 postoperative days

Incidence of catheter-related or ANB-related adverse events, including:

  • Bleeding
  • Infection
  • Catheter dysfunction requiring premature removal or preventing intended redosing.
8 postoperative days
Postoperative Pain Scores Compared with Historic Institutional Controls
Time Frame: 8, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively
Comparison of postoperative pain scores measured using the Visual Analog Scale for pain, ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst pain. Scores will be compared at 8, 24, and 48 hours after surgery with a prior institutional laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy cohort managed under an identical perioperative protocol but without catheter placement or autonomic neural blockade re-dosing. In participants requiring re-dosing, pain scores obtained before rescue intervention will be used for comparison.
8, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively
Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting Compared with Historic Institutional Controls
Time Frame: 8, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively
Comparison of postoperative nausea and vomiting events at 8, 24, and 48 hours after surgery with a prior matched institutional laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy cohort managed under an identical perioperative protocol but without catheter placement or ANB redosing. In patients requiring redosing, the presence of nausea or vomiting documented prior to rescue intervention will be used for comparison.
8, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively
Re-dosing Requirement by Concomitant Hiatal Hernia Repair Status
Time Frame: Up to 24 hours postoperatively.
Exploratory comparison of the proportion of participants requiring at least one postoperative catheter re-dosing between participants undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with versus without concomitant hiatal hernia repair.
Up to 24 hours postoperatively.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Universidad Simón Bolívar

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jorge Daes, MD, clinica Iberoamerica

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

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)

June 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 29, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 13, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 18, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 13, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CI0012026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

We plan to share the study protocol, statistical analysis plan (SAP), informed consent form (ICF), and selected de-identified participant-level data upon reasonable academic request after publication of the study results.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning 6 months after publication of the primary study results and continuing for up to 5 years.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

De-identified individual participant data and supporting documents may be shared with qualified academic investigators upon reasonable request for scientific or educational purposes, following review and approval by the principal investigator and institution, and in accordance with patient confidentiality and institutional policies.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • CSR

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.

Clinical Trials on Nausea and Vomiting, Postoperative

Clinical Trials on Bupivacaine 0.5% and Dexamethasone via Temporary Catheter

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Bulgaria

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe