ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT03428984Updated Feb 6, 2019

Study in Adult Subjects Undergoing Posterolateral Thoracotomy

A Phase 1 interventional study of EXPAREL in Postoperative Pain Management, sponsored by Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Terminated at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-02-06.

Sponsored by Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was terminated
Slow study enrollment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Sep 2018, 8 years 1 month ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
5
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Primary Objective: To characterize the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of EXPAREL when administered as a posterior intercostal nerve block.

Secondary Objective: To assess the safety and tolerability of EXPAREL in this surgical model.

Read the detailed description

This is a Phase 1, single-center, open-label study designed to evaluate the safety and PK profile of EXPAREL when administered as a posterior intercostal nerve block. Twenty-four adult subjects undergoing thoracotomy are planned for enrollment.

Subjects will be screened within 30 days prior to study drug administration. During the screening visit, which must take place at least 1 day prior to surgery, subjects will be assessed for past or present neurologic, cardiac, and general medical conditions that, in the opinion of the investigator, would preclude them from study participation.

Subjects will undergo their pre-planned thoracotomy procedure per the institution's standard of care. Prior to wound closure, subjects will be given either 40 mL of study drug (20 mL EXPAREL expanded with 20 mL normal saline) or 30 mL of study drug (20 mL EXPAREL expanded with 10 mL normal saline). Subjects will remain in the hospital for a minimum of 48 hours for pharmacokinetic testing and evaluation of safety.

On Day 14, the subject will complete the study via phone call in order to collect safety data.

02

Conditions studied

  • Postoperative Pain Management

Browse trials for

03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 5 is below the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc is the lead sponsor of 102 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.

Of its 26 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 17 (65%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Males or females ≥18 years of age.
  2. (ASA) physical status 1, 2, or 3.
  3. Scheduled to undergo chest surgery using either minimally invasive (VATS or robotic-assisted surgery) or open techniques (posterolateral, lateral, or anterior thoracotomy or requiring insertion of an inter-rib spreader/retractor) for a primary thoracic non-infectious indication under general anesthesia.
  4. Able to provide , adhere to the study schedule, and complete all study assessments.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Currently pregnant, nursing, or planning to become pregnant during the study or within 1 month after study drug administration. Female subjects must be surgically sterile, at least 2 years menopausal, or using an acceptable method of . If of , the subject must have a documented negative pregnancy test within 24 hours before surgery.
  2. Prior ipsilateral thoracotomy (the likely presence of adhesions will limit ability to perform a precise block guided by thoracoscopy). Note: previous VATS or robotic surgery is permissible.
  3. Any planned pleurodesis as part of the surgical procedure.
  4. Redo ipsilateral thoracotomy
  5. Received bupivacaine or any other local anesthetic within 7 days of screening.
  6. Body weight \< 50 kilograms (110 pounds) or a ≥ 35 kg/m2.
  7. History of or idiosyncratic reactions to amide-type local anesthetics or opioids.
  8. Previous participation in a liposome bupivacaine study.
  9. History of, suspected, or known addiction to or abuse of illicit drug(s), prescription medicine(s), or alcohol within the past 2 years.
  10. Uncontrolled anxiety, schizophrenia, or other psychiatric disorder that, in the opinion of the investigator, could interfere with study assessments or compliance.
  11. Significant medical conditions (including widely disseminated disease) or laboratory results that, in the opinion of the investigator, indicate an increased vulnerability to study drugs and procedures.
  12. History of coronary or vascular stent placed within the past 3 months (may be extended to 1 year if medically indicated per physician discretion).
  13. Have been treated for a deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, or ischemic stroke within the past 6 months (may be extended to 1 year if medically indicated per physician discretion).
  14. Severely impaired renal or hepatic function (eg, serum creatinine level > 2 mg/dL [176.8 μmol/L], blood urea nitrogen level >50 mg/dL [17.9 mmol/L], serum [AST] level >3 times the [ULN], or serum alanine aminotransferase [ALT] level > 3 times ULN).
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(9)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

ASA physical status

The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
5 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    EXPAREL 20 + 20

    20 mL EXPAREL with 20 mL normal saline

    Drug: EXPAREL

  • Experimental
    EXPAREL 20 + 10

    20 mL EXPAREL with 10 mL normal saline

    Drug: EXPAREL

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. AUC of EXPAREL concentration

    Area under the concentration curve for EXPAREL

    Time frame: 0-72 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. Incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events

    Incidence to treatment-emergent adverse events through 14 days

    Time frame: 0-14 days

07

Study locations

1 site
  • MD Anderson Cancer Center
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from May 2018 to primary completion in Sep 2018, 4 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Feb 5, 2018
First posted
Feb 12, 2018
StartActual
May 3, 2018
Primary completionActual
Sep 28, 2018
CompletionActual
Sep 28, 2018
Last update
Feb 6, 2019
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 6, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03428984
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 12, 2018
Start date
May 3, 2018
Primary completion
Sep 28, 2018
Completion
Sep 28, 2018
Last update
Feb 6, 2019

Study contacts

David Rice, MD
principal investigator · MD Anderson

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in Feb 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Studies of the drug tested here: Liposomal Bupivacaine

Start the discussion