QLESP Block for Pain Control in Robotic Partial Nephrectomy

July 11, 2026 updated by: Xi Wu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Ultrasound-Guided L2 Level QLESP Block for Postoperative Analgesia in Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an ultrasound-guided nerve block called QLESP works to reduce pain and the need for strong pain medicines after robotic kidney surgery in adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. Does QLESP reduce the total amount of opioid pain medicine participants need in the first 48 hours after surgery?
  2. Does QLESP lower pain scores and improve recovery quality after surgery? Researchers will compare participants who receive QLESP block to participants who receive the same numbing medicine injected only at the surgical wound sites.

Participants will:

  1. Be randomly assigned to receive either QLESP or local wound injection before surgery.
  2. Have a patient-controlled pain pump for 48 hours after surgery.
  3. Complete pain scores and recovery quality questionnaires at 2, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after surgery.
  4. Be followed until hospital discharge.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

120

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 Locations

  • China
    • Hubei
      • Wuhan, Hubei, China, 430022
        • Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
        • 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:

  • Aged 18 to 75 years
  • Scheduled for elective robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN)
  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I to III
  • Body mass index (BMI) 18 to 35 kg/m²
  • Voluntarily signed informed consent form Able to understand pain scoring and use of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Language, communication, or comprehension barriers
  • Infection at the intended puncture site
  • Coagulopathy or bleeding diathesis
  • Known allergy or contraindication to local anesthetics or opioids
  • Use of analgesic medications within the past 3 months
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Severe cardiac, hepatic, or renal dysfunction
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Refusal to participate in the 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: QLESP Group
Participants receive ultrasound-guided QLESP block with 30 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine (15 mL in the erector spinae fascial plane and 15 mL in the quadratus lumborum-psoas major interfascial plane) after induction of general anesthesia.
Drug: ropivacaine
Local wound infiltration with 30 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine at the port sites performed by the surgeon at the end of surgery.
Active Comparator: Control Group
Participants receive local wound infiltration with 30 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine at the port sites performed by the surgeon at the end of surgery.
Drug: ropivacaine (local infiltration)
Ultrasound-guided QLESP block with 30 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine (15 mL injected between the erector spinae muscle and the transverse process at L2 level, followed by 15 mL injected between the quadratus lumborum and psoas major muscles) after induction of general anesthesia.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cumulative Opioid Consumption at 48 Hours Postoperatively
Time Frame: From the end of surgery to 48 hours postoperatively.
Cumulative opioid consumption measured at 48 hours after surgery
From the end of surgery to 48 hours postoperatively.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Huazhong University of Science and Technology

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)

July 20, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 11, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • WHUH20260711

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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.

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