Intraperitoneal Ketamine Versus Fentanyl as Adjuvants to Bupivacaine in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

June 23, 2026 updated by: Tarek Mohamed Essa Tohamy, Assiut University

Intraperitoneal Instillation of Ketamine Versus Fentanyl as Adjuvants to Bupivacaine for Postoperative Pain Control in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy _a Double-blinded Randomized Trial.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard surgical treatment for gallbladder stones; however, the origin of pain after LC is multifactorial and complex in nature. Pain arising from incision sites is parietal pain, whereas pain from the gall bladder bed is mainly visceral in nature, and shoulder pain is mainly referred owing to the residual carbon dioxide irritating the diaphragm. Intraperitoneal administration of local anesthetics has been shown to improve postoperative pain control and reduce the need for systemic analgesics. The addition of adjuvant agents such as fentanyl or ketamine may further enhance analgesic efficacy. This randomized double-blind study aims to compare the effectiveness of intraperitoneal ketamine versus fentanyl as adjuvants to bupivacaine in reducing postoperative pain and analgesic requirements following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is widely recognized as the gold standard for the treatment of gallbladder stones due to its significant advantages over the conventional open surgical approach. These benefits include faster postoperative recovery, reduced surgical morbidity, shorter hospital stay, and decreased postoperative pain. Despite these advantages, postoperative pain remains a major concern and is considered one of the primary factors affecting patient comfort and delaying discharge following surgery. Abdominal pain is usually most pronounced during the first 24 hours after the procedure, while shoulder pain commonly develops on the second postoperative day as a consequence of diaphragmatic irritation caused by residual carbon dioxide. Because postoperative pain after laparoscopic surgery is multifactorial in origin, a multimodal analgesic approach is widely recommended . Various strategies have been employed to improve pain control, including the use of local anesthetics administered alone or in combination with intraperitoneal opioid analgesics. Intraperitoneal (I.P.) administration of local anesthetics has become a popular and effective technique for postoperative pain management, as it can reduce the need for systemic analgesics and minimize the adverse effects associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids. This approach was first investigated in gynecological laparoscopic procedures and has since been extensively studied in patients undergoing LC. Several studies have demonstrated that the addition of adjuvants such as fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, and ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, may enhance and prolong postoperative analgesia. Consequently, intraperitoneal instillation of local anesthetics with adjuvant agents represents a simple, safe, and effective method for improving postoperative pain control following LC.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

84

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 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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients of age 20-50 years
  • Patients of either gender
  • Patients planned to undergo elective LC.
  • Patients have I-II of the American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient's refusal.
  • body mass index (BMI) ≥40 kg/m2.
  • History of hypersensitivity to the drugs being evaluated
  • Inability to comprehend postoperatively the pain assessment scale/neuropsychiatric disorders.
  • chronic use of opioids and opioid addiction
  • Patients with acute cholecystitis or converted to open surgery.
  • Carcinoma of gall bladder
  • Pregnant female
  • Bleeding 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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Fentanyl

Fentanyl used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for intraperitoneal instillation during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a dose of 1 ug/kg is commonly added to the local anesthetic solution.

Bupivacaine: Typically, 0.25% to 0.5% concentration is used for intraperitoneal instillation. A common volume is 20 mL, depending on the clinical protocol.
Drug: Fentanyl

Fentanyl used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for intraperitoneal instillation during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a dose of 1 ug/kg is commonly added to the local anesthetic solution.

Bupivacaine: Typically, 0.25% to 0.5% concentration is used for intraperitoneal instillation. A common volume is 20 mL, depending on the clinical protocol.
Experimental: ketamine

Ketamine used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for intraperitoneal instillation during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a dose of 0.25 mg/kg is commonly added to the local anesthetic solution.

Bupivacaine: Typically, 0.25% to 0.5% concentration is used for intraperitoneal instillation. A common volume is 20 mL, depending on the clinical protocol.
Drug: Ketamine

Ketamine used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for intraperitoneal instillation during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a dose of 0.25 mg/kg is commonly added to the local anesthetic solution.

Bupivacaine: Typically, 0.25% to 0.5% concentration is used for intraperitoneal instillation. A common volume is 20 mL, depending on the clinical protocol.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time of first analgesic request.
Time Frame: 24 hours
The primary outcome of the study is comparison of the post-operative analgesic effect regarding the time to first analgesic request of fentanyl versus Ketamine as adjuvants to bupivacaine in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy
24 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total analgesia consumption postoperatively.
Time Frame: 24 hours
Total Nalphuine consumption in milligrams, in the first 24 hours postoperatively.
24 hours
Postoperative Numeric Rating Scale of pain
Time Frame: 24 hours postoperatively.
Postoperative Numeric Rating Scale of pain.( in post-anaesthesia care unit, half hour, 2, 6, 12, 18, 24 hours postoperatively)
24 hours postoperatively.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Assiut University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tarek Mo Essa Tohamy, Assiut University

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)

August 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 18, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 26, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 26, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 04-2026-201752

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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