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Completed Phase 4 Interventional Accepts healthy volunteers Results available

Erector Spinae Plane vs. Paravertebral Nerve Block for Thoracic Surgery

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03758261

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03758261. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.

ClinicalTrials.gov public records Last synced Sep 5, 2026, 8:25 AM EDT

Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.

Official title

Randomized Clinical Trial of Erector Spinae Plane (ESP) Versus Paravertebral Nerve (PVB) Blockade for Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS)

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

Continuous paravertebral analgesia and erector spinae plane blockade (ESP) are accepted techniques at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) for the management of thoracic pain following surgery and trauma. Recently, an increasing number of erector spinae plane nerve blocks are being performed as it has been demonstrated in our institution, and via case reports that the blocks provide clinical effectiveness, but may have a better side-effect profile than the paravertebral nerve block. However, the relative efficacy of ESP compared to paravertebral nerve block remains to be established for video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). This is a prospective randomized study intended to assess the efficacy, safety and side-effect profile of continuous erector spinae plane analgesia versus continuous paravertebral analgesia for VATS procedures. It will include 60 patients presenting to UPMC Passavant for a VATS procedure. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive either a nerve block via continuous paravertebral infusion or via erector spinae plane infusion. In addition, to treat breakthrough pain, the patients in both arms will receive multimodal adjunctive therapy per routine. Bupivacaine and ropivacaine are FDA approved for use in nerve block catheters. The primary outcome will be to compare analgesic efficacy between the two nerve blocks as defined by total opioid consumption and pain scores on the numeric pain rating scale. Secondary outcomes include incentive spirometer amounts (baseline vs daily score postoperatively), length of stay, duration of catheter and report of adverse events or complications. Other data points include number of chest tubes and location and level of catheter and nerve block placement as well as number of blocks per case.

Study identification

NCT ID
NCT03758261
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 4
Lead sponsor
Charles Luke
Other
Enrollment
35 participants

Conditions and interventions

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
18 Years and older
Sex
All
Healthy volunteers
Accepts healthy volunteers

This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.

Study timeline

Start date
Mar 10, 2019
Primary completion
Jun 11, 2020
Completion
Jun 24, 2020
Last update posted
Jul 2, 2023

2019 – 2020

United States locations

U.S. sites
1
U.S. states
1
U.S. cities
1
Facility City State ZIP Site status
UPMC Passavant Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15237

Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.

About this trial record page

What this page shows
Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03758261, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
What this page does not do
No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
Where the data comes from
Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
Last refresh
Last update posted Jul 2, 2023 · Synced Sep 5, 2026

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Open the official record

The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03758261 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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