Intrapleural Bupivacaine Analgesia for Postoperative Pain Management After Minimally Invasive Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Starting soon · Phase 4 · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Pain Management

In brief

Postoperative pain is common after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), with pleural irritation caused by chest tube placement being a major contributor. Inadequate pain control may impair respiratory function, delay postoperative recovery, and increase the risk of complications. However, effective and targeted analgesic strategies specifically addressing chest tube-related pain remain limited. This is a single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled superiority trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of programmed intermittent intrapleural administration of bupivacaine at different concentrations for postoperative analgesia after VATS. A total of 249 patients undergoing VATS will be randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive intrapleural injections of 0.25% bupivacaine, 0.125% bupivacaine, or normal saline. The primary outcome is pain intensity during coughing within 48 hours after surgery. Secondary outcomes include pain intensity at rest, plasma bupivacaine concentrations, quality of postoperative recovery, cumulative opioid consumption, and postoperative inflammatory marker levels. This study aims to provide evidence to inform analgesic strategies for chest tube-related pain following VATS and to clarify the optimal use and safety profile of intrapleural bupivacaine.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07393386

Run by

Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Shanghai, China

People needed

249

Starts

2026-02-01

Expected to finish

2028-06-30

Last updated by the study team

2026-02-06

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Patients scheduled for elective video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery
• Age≥18 years
• American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification I-III

You may not qualify if…

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• History of chronic pain
• History of alcohol or opioid dependence
• Significant cardiopulmonary dysfunction, including heart failure or severe cardiac conduction abnormalities
• Coexisting central nervous system disorders
• Hepatic or renal dysfunction
• Known hypersensitivity to local anesthetics or opioids
• Local infection at or near the planned site of regional anesthesia, or systemic infection
• Language impairment or difficulty in communication
• Refusal to participate in the study or refusal to use patient-controlled analgesia
• Concurrent participation in another clinical trial

Where it is running

• Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital — Shanghai, China

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.