Comparing Through-the-Needle With Suture-Method Catheter Designs for Popliteal Nerve Blocks

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Regional Anesthesia, Sciatic Nerve Block

In brief

Following painful surgical procedures, postoperative analgesia is often provided with a single-injection peripheral nerve block. Hothe investigatorsver, even with the longest-acting FDA-approved local anesthetic currently available-bupivacaine-the block duration is measured in hours, while the surgical pain may persist for days. A continuous peripheral nerve block allows a prolonged block, consisting of a percutaneously-inserted catheter with its orifice adjacent to a target nerve/plexus through which local anesthetic may be administered. Two basic perineural catheter designs currently exist: (1) catheters that are inserted either through or over a straight hollow-bore needle; and, (2) catheters that are attached to the back of a hollow suture-shaped needle that pulls the catheter adjacent to the target nerve ("suture-method" design). To date, a comparison of the relative risks and benefits of these two designs have not been investigated. The investigators therefore propose a randomized, observer-masked, controlled, parallel-arm, clinical trial to compare these two catheter designs when used to provide post-surgical analgesia following foot and ankle surgery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03442036

Run by

University of California, San Diego

People needed

70

Starts

2018-04-06

Expected to finish

2019-04-05

Last updated by the study team

2021-02-17

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Patients undergoing ambulatory foot or ankle surgery with a popliteal perineural catheter for postoperative analgesia.

You may not qualify if…

• Pregnancy
• Inability to communicate with research staff
• Incarceration
• Clinically apparent neuropathy in the operative extremity
• Chronic high dose opioid use
• History of opioid abuse
• Concurrent surgery outside the block distribution
• Patients with nerves deeper than 5 cm from the skin

Where it is running

• UCSD Medical Center — San Diego, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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