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SuspendedNCT03967288CLIMBUpdated Jun 21, 2024

Comparison of Clorotekal and Bupivacaine for Short Obstetric Surgery

A Phase 4 interventional study of Chloroprocaine Injection [Clorotekal] and Bupivacaine Hydrochloride 0.75% Injection Solution in Anesthesia, Spinal, sponsored by Oregon Health and Science University. Suspended at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-06-21.

Sponsored by Oregon Health and Science University · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was suspended
Four patients required conversion to GETA (2 in each study arm)
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
27
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
Female
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Study summary

The following obstetric procedures are commonly performed with spinal anesthesia on labor and delivery: bilateral tubal ligation, external cephalic version, cerclage insertion, cerclage removal, minimally invasive fetal surgery, and evacuation of retained products of conception. Bupivacaine is currently the standard spinal medication for these procedures because of its long history of safe use, its low incidence of transient neurologic symptoms, and its ability to provide a dependable, dense block with a high degree of maternal satisfaction. While bupivacaine has the aforementioned advantages, it unfortunately has a long duration of action, up to 240-380 minutes, which far exceeds the time necessary to complete most obstetric procedures. Clorotekal®, the first Food and Drug Administration approved chloroprocaine solution created for spinal injection, is a potential alternative. When compared with bupivacaine spinals, chloroprocaine spinals have been shown to facilitate clinically significant shorter times to resolution of motor and sensory block, first ambulation, micturition, and discharge readiness. The objective of this study is to determine if a strategy of spinal anesthesia with chloroprocaine will reduce the duration of motor block, compared with equivalent block with hyperbaric bupivacaine..

Read the detailed description

This will be a single-blind, randomized, controlled, single center clinical trial assessing the efficacy of spinal chloroprocaine on resolution of motor block and associated patient flow through the post-anesthesia care unit . Fifty patients will be equally randomized to receive either spinal chloroprocaine or hyperbaric bupivacaine.

Masking:

  1. Subject
  2. Obstetric provider
  3. Investigator
  4. Outcomes assessor

The anesthesia provider will be unblinded.

Subjects will be allocated to either intrathecal injection of 50 mg of 1% chloroprocaine or 10.5 mg (1.4 mL) of 0.75% hyperbaric bupivacaine. The intrathecal space will be accessed with a 25 gauge Whitacre needle. Upon obtaining cerebrospinal fluid, the syringe of study solution will be attached the end of the Whitacre needle. The syringe will be pulled back to reveal aspiration of cerebrospinal fluid. The study solution will then be administered over approximately 5 seconds. The Whitacre needle and spinal introducer needle will be removed from the patient's back. The patient will be placed supine on the operating room table. The outcomes assessor will then be allowed to enter the operating room.

Decisions on when to administer additional sedative and analgesic medications will be left to the discretion of the anesthesia team. The level of block will be initially assessed by the anesthesia team. When the block is felt to be at peak height the outcomes assessor will test with pinprick to determine the peak block height.

In accordance with standard of practice at our institution all patients will have convective warmers used during the case and patient temperature will be monitored. Non-invasive blood pressures will be obtained every 2.5 minutes after spinal placement. The frequency of blood pressure measurement will be changed to every 5 minutes, 15 minutes after spinal placement. Anesthesia providers will administer phenylephrine via intravenous bolus to maintain maternal blood pressure within 20% of baseline or for a systolic blood pressure \< 100 mm Hg. Anesthesia providers will be allowed to add ephedrine or glycopyrrolate to phenylephrine for maternal hypotension with co-existent bradycardia.

A research coordinator will remain with the patient throughout their time in the operating room and the post-anesthesia care unit. Active, non-standard of care, monitoring for the following signs and symptoms of local anesthetic toxicity will occur in the operating room and post-anesthesia care unit at the following time intervals after spinal placement: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, upon post-anesthesia care unit arrival, upon completing Phase 1 of post-anesthesia care unit recovery, and upon discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit:

  • Seizures
  • Tinnitus
  • Metallic taste
  • Agitation
  • Sedation
  • Respiratory depression (respiratory rate \< 10 breaths per minute)
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Vision changes
  • Paresthesia
  • Perioral numbness
  • Hypotension (drop in mean arterial pressure > 20% or systolic blood pressure \< 100 mm Hg)
  • Arrhythmias

The research coordinator will obtain from anesthesia, upon arrival to the post-anesthesia care unit, the total dose of intraoperative opioids administered, whether the patient had intraoperative hypotension, and the total dose of intraoperative phenylephrine administered. In the post-anesthesia care unit, the research coordinator will determine the patient's Bromage scale score at 5-minute increments. The research coordinator will also ask the patient to notify them when they have a Bromage scale score of 2 (able to flex knees). While in the post-anesthesia care unit, the research coordinator will also document the time of post-anesthesia care unit arrival, the end of Phase 1 of post-anesthesia care unit recovery, and the time that the patient leaves the post-anesthesia care unit (end of Phase 2).

The research coordinator will meet with the patient on the evening of their surgery as well as daily for the duration of their hospitalization to assess for time of first ambulation, bladder catheterization, and for adverse events including, new postoperative neurologic deficits and any other potential adverse events.

To gather information on the incidence of new postoperative neurologic deficits all patients will be called 1 week after spinal insertion. A telephone script will be used to obtain this information.

02

Conditions studied

  • Anesthesia, Spinal

Keywords

  • Chloroprocaine
  • Bupivacaine
  • Motor Block
  • Anesthesia, Obstetrical
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Oregon Health and Science University is the lead sponsor of 676 studies on the registry; 136 are open to participants now.

Of its 49 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 36 (73%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  1. Women 18 years old to 60 years old
  2. American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class 1-3
  3. Undergoing one of the following obstetric procedures: bilateral tubal ligation, external cephalic version, cerclage insertion, cerclage removal, minimally invasive fetal surgery, or evacuation of retained products of conception.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Refusal of consent
  2. Multiple gestations
  3. History of ester local anesthetic or para-aminobenzoic acid allergy
  4. Height less than 5 feet or greater than 6 feet
  5. Body mass index less than 18.5 kg/m2 or greater than 45 kg/m2
  6. Any coagulopathy defined by platelets \< 80k/microliter, International Normalized Ratio > 1.2, or Partial Thromboplastin Time > 36 seconds
  7. Signs of hypovolemia that is not corrected by routine management including hypotension (systolic blood pressure \< 90 mm Hg) at the time of evaluation
  8. Liver disease including jaundice and ascites, with elevated liver function tests, Aspartate Aminotransferase > 2x institutional normal, Alanine Aminotransferase > 2x institutional normal
  9. Renal disease including history of dialysis, with elevated renal function tests on admission labs, glomerular filtration rate \< 60 ml/min/1.73 m2
  10. Infection at the site of potential spinal insertion
  11. Neurologic condition that contraindicates spinal anesthesia, tethered spinal cord or multiple sclerosis
  12. Known atypical plasma cholinesterase activity
  13. Other contraindications to receive a spinal anesthetic
  14. Vulnerable populations including prisoners and decisionally impaired adults
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
27 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Chloroprocaine

    50 mg of 1% spinal chloroprocaine (5 mL) injected into the intrathecal space over approximately 5 seconds once prior to the start of surgery

    Drug: Chloroprocaine Injection [Clorotekal]

  • Active comparator
    Bupivacaine

    10.5 mg of spinal hyperbaric bupivacaine (1.4 mL of 0.75% bupivacaine hydrochloride in 8.25% dextrose) injected into the intrathecal space over approximately 5 seconds once prior to the start of surgery

    Drug: Bupivacaine Hydrochloride 0.75% Injection Solution

Interventions

  • DrugChloroprocaine Injection [Clorotekal]

    1% chloroprocaine Hydrochloride Injection (50 mg/5 mL) for intrathecal use

    Also known as: Clorotekal

  • DrugBupivacaine Hydrochloride 0.75% Injection Solution

    0.75% bupivacaine Hydrochloride injection in 8.25% dextrose for intrathecal use

    Also known as: Marcaine spinal

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Motor block-interval assessment

    Bromage scale score at 5 minute intervals, since spinal injection. Interval assessment motor block will be defined as the number of 5-minute intervals since completion of spinal injection to achieve a Bromage score or 2 (able to flex knees)

    Time frame: 5 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. Motor block-patient report

    The patient will be instructed to notify the outcomes assessor when they are able to flex their knees (Bromage score 2). Patient report motor block will be defined as the time interval in minutes since completion of spinal injection to achieve a Bromage score of 2 (able to flex knees).

    Time frame: 5 hours

  2. Phase 1 Post-Anesthesia Care Unit time

    Phase 1 Post-Anesthesia Care Unit time will be defined as the interval between "out of operating room" and "end of Phase 1" as documented by the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit nurse.

    Time frame: 8 hours

  3. Post-Anesthesia Care Unit time (Phase 1 + Phase 2)

    Post-Anesthesia Care Unit time will be defined as the interval between "out of operating room" and "end of Phase 2" as documented by the labor and delivery nurse for patients discharged home and as mutually agreed upon by the outcomes assessor and nurse for patients discharged to the ward. In addition to meeting Phase 1 criteria, patients must be able to ambulate, micturate, and tolerate food intake in order to exit Phase 2 of Post-Anesthesia Care Unit recovery. Completing Phase 2 of Post-Anesthesia Care Unit recovery is also requires that a responsible adult can escort the patient out of the hospital and remain with the patient for the first 24 hours.

    Time frame: 12 hours

  4. Time to ambulation

    Defined as the time interval in minutes between intrathecal medication administration and time to first ambulation. Ambulation requires a Bromage score of 1 and a standard nursing assessment that is already in practice at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

    Time frame: 24 hours

  5. Bladder Catheterization

    Defined as inserting either a Foley or Straight catheter into the bladder

    Time frame: 24 hours

Other outcomes

  1. Opioid consumption

    Defined as the total intraoperative opioid consumption in milligram morphine equivalents.

    Time frame: 2 hours

  2. Peak block sensory level

    Defined as the most caudal dermatome with sensation to pinprick at the time of "anesthesia ready."

    Time frame: 1 hour

07

Study locations

1 site
  • OHSU Labor and Delivery; Oregon Health and Science University Hospital
    Portland, Oregon 97239, United States
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Sep 19, 2019

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 21, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03967288
Lead sponsor
Oregon Health and Science University
Collaborators
B. Braun Medical Inc.
Responsible party
Brandon M Togioka (Principal Investigator, Oregon Health and Science University) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 30, 2019
Start date
Oct 24, 2019
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 21, 2024

Study contacts

Brandon M Togioka, MD
principal investigator · Oregon Health and Science University

Oversight

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

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This study is suspended, as verified in Jun 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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