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CompletedNCT04646967Updated Aug 2, 2024

An Evaluation of Pain Outcomes of Ketorolac Administration in Children Undergoing Circumcision

A Phase 2 interventional study of Bupivacain and Sevoflurane in Pain, Postoperative, Phimosis and Paraphimosis, sponsored by Alberta Children's Hospital. Completed at 1 site in Canada. Open to male participants aged Up to 18 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-08-02.

Sponsored by Alberta Children's Hospital · Phase 2, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Jan 2024, 2 years 8 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
100
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
Up to 18 Years
Sex
Male
01

Study summary

Circumcision is the most common surgical procedure performed by Pediatric Urologists. Ketorolac has been shown to have an efficacy similar to morphine in multi-modal analgesic regimens without the commonly associated adverse effects. This study aims to see if giving ketorolac during the operation will result in better pain control. We hypothesize that ketorolac will result in pain control similar to morphine with a lower incidence of side effects such as nausea and vomiting.

Read the detailed description

We performed a pilot study in 2017 evaluating the perioperative use of ketorolac in circumcision. Overall, there were no adverse reactions and ketorolac patients did not experience significantly less pain that the control group patients. However, parental perception of pain was lower in the ketorolac group when compared to the control and this required more investigation. Based on our findings of the pilot study, we determined that we needed at least 36 patients in each study group to come to a statistical conclusion. With a larger study group perhaps a statistical difference in pain as measured with a FLACC score may become apparent.

Prospective, randomized, single-blinded study will be conducted from January 2021 - January 2022. A total of two groups will present with 50 children in each group.

A computer-generated randomized block design program will be used to allocate patients to either the treatment (ketorolac) or control (no ketorolac) group. All children will receive a 15 mg/kg oral dose of acetaminophen prior to surgery unless contraindicated. General anesthesia will be induced with sevoflurane via facemask. After establishing venous access, a laryngeal mask will be inserted, and anesthesia maintained with 1 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) of sevoflurane in oxygen/air 50/50 mixture. The DPNB nerve block will be performed by a pediatric urologist using a 23 GA needle inserted below the Buck fascia. Once the needle tip is positioned appropriately, and after a negative aspiration test, 0.2mL/kg (maximum 10mL) of 0.25% bupivacaine is injected in small aliquots, with intermittent aspiration throughout. In all patients, skin incision is performed at least 5 min after placement of the nerve block. At the beginning of the circumcision procedure once the patient is asleep, patients in the treatment group will receive a 0.5 mg/kg intravenous dose of ketorolac. Patients will be advised to take ibuprofen and acetaminophen post-operatively as needed, but not ibuprofen within 6 hours of the procedure. A 6-hour window between ibuprofen and ketorolac is in line with our standard of practice at the Alberta Children's Hospital when using additional NSAIDs after ketorolac.

Patients' demographic information, time needed to perform the block, time of block onset and duration of surgery will be recorded. The mean arterial pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation, expired sevoflurane end tidal concentration and MAC will be systematically collected pre-operatively, intra-operatively and post-operatively in the recovery room. The primary outcome of post-operative pain will be evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The usage of these two scales will be performed as deemed appropriate by the research assistant. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment (> 7 years of age). The FLACC score is a well-established postoperative pain measure using 5 items scored between 0-2, which has been validated in patients from 6 months up to 7 years of age. These faces are rated on a scale of 10. A FLACC or NRS pain score will be recorded every 15 minutes for the first hour and every 30 minutes for up to 2 hours following discharge from the PACU into the day stay surgical unit. If the score is found to be >3 (moderate pain 4-6, severe pain 7-10), the patient will receive an intravenous morphine dose of 0.05mg/kg. An additional dose may be given 15 minutes following the initial dose of morphine if analgesia is inadequate (score >4). Postoperatively, the child will be monitored every 15 minutes during the first hour and every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours until discharge home. Discharge will be based on normal institutional criteria including level of awareness, hemodynamic stability and absence of pain, bleeding, nausea and vomiting. Prior to discharge, parents will be provided with any additional analgesics required at home and will be contacted 24 hours following their surgery to complete the parents' postoperative pain measure (PPPM). The PPPM is a well-established post-operative pain assessment tool with high inter-rater reliability and construct validity, which has been designed specifically for use by parents in the post-operative care of their children. The measure includes 15 items scored between 0 and 1. The questionnaire will be completed over the telephone at a time corresponding to 24 hours post-surgical closure. Amount of pain and analgesia consumption data will then be collected by contacting the parents 24 hours post procedure.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pain, Postoperative
  • Phimosis
  • Paraphimosis
  • Balanitis

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • penis
  • pain
  • ketorolac
  • circumcision
03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,093 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,137 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 100 is above the median of 75 across 4,341 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Alberta Children's Hospital is the lead sponsor of 10 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Up to 18 Years
Sexes eligible
Male
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • All children admitted for circumcision at the Alberta Children's Hospital

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of allergic reactions to local anesthetics or ketorolac

    • Bleeding diatheses
    • Coagulopathy
    • Infection at the injection site.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
100 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    No ketorolac

    15 mg/kg oral dose of acetaminophen is administered prior to surgery. General anesthesia will be induced with sevoflurane via facemask. After establishing venous access, a laryngeal mask will be inserted, and anesthesia maintained with 1 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) of sevoflurane in oxygen/air 50/50 mixture. The DPNB nerve block is done using a 23 GA needle inserted below the Buck fascia. Once the needle tip is positioned appropriately and after a negative aspiration test, 0.2mL/kg (maximum 10mL) of 0.25% bupivacaine is injected in small aliquots, with intermittent aspiration throughout. In all patients, skin incision is performed at least 5 min after placement of the nerve block. Patients will be advised to take ibuprofen and acetaminophen postoperatively as needed.

    Drug: Bupivacain · Drug: Sevoflurane · Drug: Acetaminophen · Drug: Ibuprofen

  • Experimental
    Peri-operative ketorolac

    Exactly same as the no ketorolac group except at the beginning of the circumcision, once the patient is asleep, patients in the perioperative ketorolac group will also receive a 0.5 mg/kg intravenous dose of ketorolac.

    Drug: Bupivacain · Drug: Sevoflurane · Drug: Acetaminophen · Drug: Ibuprofen · Drug: Ketorolac

Interventions

  • DrugBupivacain

    See active comparator description

    Also known as: Marcaine

  • DrugSevoflurane

    See active comparator description

    Also known as: Sevorane, Ultane, Sojourn

  • DrugAcetaminophen

    See active comparator description

    Also known as: Tylenol

  • DrugIbuprofen

    See active comparator description

    Also known as: Advil

  • DrugKetorolac

    See experimental arm description

    Also known as: Toradol

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: Immediately following the procedure

  2. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the Wong-Baker FACES scale will be used in patients capable of self-assessment. Both scores are out of 10 and can be averaged together to quantify post-operative pain

    Time frame: 15 minutes post-operatively

  3. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 30 minutes post-operatively

  4. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 45 minutes post-operatively

  5. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 60 minutes post-operatively

  6. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 90 minutes post-operatively

  7. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 120 minutes post-operatively

  8. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 150 minutes post-operatively

  9. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain score or Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain score ascertained by a nurse or research assistant blinded to the anesthetic technique. The FLACC scale will be used in children who have difficulty verbalizing pain and in sleeping children (regardless of age) while the NRS pain score will be used in patients capable of self-assessment.

    Time frame: 180 minutes post-operatively

  10. Post-operative pain

    Evaluated through use of Parents' Post-operative Pain Measure (PPPM) completed via telephone follow-up with parent/guardian 24-hours post-operative.

    Time frame: 24 hours post-operatively

Secondary outcomes

  1. Total ibuprofen consumption

    Evaluated and compiled through anesthesia notes, post-operative nursing care notes and parental telephone follow-up

    Time frame: 24 hours post-operatively

  2. Total acetaminophen consumption

    Evaluated and compiled through anesthesia notes, post-operative nursing care notes and parental telephone follow-up

    Time frame: 24 hours post-operatively

  3. Incidence of bleeding requiring medical attention

    Bleeding events will be compiled through post-anesthetic care unit, surgical short stay unit, clinic and emergency department notes

    Time frame: Up to 2 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Alberta Children's Hospital
    Calgary, Alberta T3B 6A8, Canada
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Allan CY, Jacqueline PA, Shubhda JH. Caudal epidural block versus other methods of postoperative pain relief for circumcision in boys. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(2):CD003005. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003005. PubMed 12804449 ↗
  • Brady-Fryer B, Wiebe N, Lander JA. Pain relief for neonatal circumcision. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004 Oct 18;2004(4):CD004217. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004217.pub2. PubMed 15495086 ↗
  • American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Acute Pain Management. Practice guidelines for acute pain management in the perioperative setting: an updated report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Acute Pain Management. Anesthesiology. 2012 Feb;116(2):248-73. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e31823c1030. No abstract available. PubMed 22227789 ↗
  • Adler R, Ottaway MS, Gould S. Circumcision: we have heard from the experts; now let's hear from the parents. Pediatrics. 2001 Feb;107(2):E20. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.2.e20. PubMed 11158494 ↗
  • Sutters KA, Levine JD, Dibble S, Savedra M, Miaskowski C. Analgesic efficacy and safety of single-dose intramuscular ketorolac for postoperative pain management in children following tonsillectomy. Pain. 1995 Apr;61(1):145-153. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(94)00166-C. PubMed 7644238 ↗
  • Gunter JB, Varughese AM, Harrington JF, Wittkugel EP, Patankar SS, Matar MM, Lowe EE, Myer CM 3rd, Willging JP. Recovery and complications after tonsillectomy in children: a comparison of ketorolac and morphine. Anesth Analg. 1995 Dec;81(6):1136-41. doi: 10.1097/00000539-199512000-00004. PubMed 7486094 ↗
  • De Oliveira GS Jr, Agarwal D, Benzon HT. Perioperative single dose ketorolac to prevent postoperative pain: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. Anesth Analg. 2012 Feb;114(2):424-33. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0b013e3182334d68. Epub 2011 Sep 29. PubMed 21965355 ↗
  • von Baeyer CL, Spagrud LJ. Systematic review of observational (behavioral) measures of pain for children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 years. Pain. 2007 Jan;127(1-2):140-50. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.08.014. Epub 2006 Sep 25. PubMed 16996689 ↗
  • Merkel SI, Voepel-Lewis T, Shayevitz JR, Malviya S. The FLACC: a behavioral scale for scoring postoperative pain in young children. Pediatr Nurs. 1997 May-Jun;23(3):293-7. PubMed 9220806 ↗
  • Chambers CT, Hardial J, Craig KD, Court C, Montgomery C. Faces scales for the measurement of postoperative pain intensity in children following minor surgery. Clin J Pain. 2005 May-Jun;21(3):277-85. doi: 10.1097/00002508-200505000-00011. PubMed 15818080 ↗
  • Chambers CT, Finley AG, McGrath PJ, Walsh TM. The parents' postoperative pain measure: replication and extension to 2-6-year-old children. Pain. 2003 Oct;105(3):437-443. doi: 10.1016/S0304-3959(03)00256-2. PubMed 14527704 ↗
  • Julious SA. Sample size of 12 per group rule of thumb for a pilot study. Pharmaceutical Statistics 4.4: 287-291, 2005

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 2, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04646967
Lead sponsor
Alberta Children's Hospital
Responsible party
Bryce Weber (Pediatric Urologist, Alberta Children's Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 30, 2020
Start date
Nov 25, 2022
Primary completion
Jan 25, 2024
Completion
Jan 25, 2024
Last update
Aug 2, 2024

Study contacts

Bryce Weber, MD FRCSC
principal investigator · Alberta Children's Hospital

Oversight

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

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