CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05351203Updated Sep 26, 2023

Ultrasound Guided Bilateral Erector Spinae Block Versus Caudal in Lumbar Spine Surgeries

An interventional study of caudal block and Erector spinae block in Acute Postoperative Pain, sponsored by Cairo University. Completed at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-09-26.

Sponsored by Cairo University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Major lumbar spine surgeries are associated with severe postoperative pain that usually lasts for at least 3 days.Caudal epidural analgesia has a crucial role in providing effective pain relief post lumbar spine surgeries by blocking sensory input at the level of the spinal cord. Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) as a new technique of trunk fascia block was proposed in 2016Reports showed that ESPB significantly relieved postoperative pain in patients with lumbosacral spine surgery, reducing the use of analgesics.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the pre-emptive analgesic effect of Ultrasound guided bilateral erector spinae block Vs Caudal epidural analgesia in Lumbar spine surgeries during peri-operative period.

Objectives:

  • To assess the duration of analgesia in both groups and time to rescue analgesia .
  • To assess Visual analogue scale (VAS) score in both groups.
  • To assess complications of both groups
Read the detailed description

This is a randomized controlled study designed to include 50 patients aged from 18 to 65 years old undergoing lumbar spine surgeries.

fifty patients meeting the inclusion criteria will be randomly assigned into two equal groups: Group A(n=25): caudal epidural group. Group B(n=25): bilateral ultrasound guided Erector spinae block group.

All patients will be assessed clinically and investigated for exclusion of any of the above mentioned contraindications. Laboratory work needed will be: Complete blood count (CBC); prothrombin time and concentration (PT\& PC); partial thromboplastin time (PTT); bleeding time (BT); clotting time (CT) , liver function tests and kidney function tests .

● Operating Room preparation \& Equipment: The ultrasound used will be SonoSite M Turbo (USA), the scanning probe will be the linear multi-frequency 6-13 megahertz transducer (L25 x 6-13 MHz linear array).

Methods:

General anaesthesia will be induced. 1.5 μg/kg fentanyl based on lean body weight with maximum dose of 200 μg and 2 mg/kg propofol will be given based on total body weight. (14) Tracheal intubation will be facilitated with 0.5 mg/kg atracurium based on ideal body weight. (15) . The surgical intervention will be then allowed 20 minutes after finishing the block procedure.

Volume controlled ventilation will be adjusted to maintain normocapnia. Anesthesia will be maintained by using 1.5% isoflurane in a mixture of oxygen and air (50/50) and atracurium top ups at a dose of 0.1mg/kg every 30 minutes.

Patients will be placed in the prone position on a Relton Hall frame or padded bolsters.

All participants will be given 1 gram of intravenous paracetamol with maximum dose of 4 gm every 24 hour, together with 4 mg ondansetron 10 min prior to the end of surgery for postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis.

Failed block (increase in Heart rate (HR) and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP)>20% from base line with skin incision) will be treated by 1 ug/kg of fentanyl as top-up doses and increasing isoflurane concentration in case of inadequate response to fentanyl.

After skin closure, inhalational anesthesia will be discontinued and reversal of muscle relaxation with atropine (0.02 mg/Kg) and neostigmine (0.05 mg/Kg) will be administered intravenous after return of patient's spontaneous breathing. Patients will then be transferred to post anesthesia care unit (PACU) for 60 min to complete recovery and monitoring.

  • At any time hypotension (defined as a decrease in mean arterial pressure (MAP) >25% from baseline value or systolic arterial pressure (SAP \<100 mmHg)) will be treated with 5 mg IV bolus ephedrine and repeated every 3 minutes until the hypotension resolved. Bradycardia (defined as a HR \<40 beats per minute) will be treated with atropine 0.5 mg IV.
  • In group (A): Caudal Epidural Analgesia
  • For the caudal block, the patient will be positioned in prone position, sterilized from the iliac crest margin to the lower buttock by betadine three times and will be covered by sterile drapes exposing the sacral area. Sacral horns will be palpated and sacral hiatus and epidural area will be determined at S4-S5 level through the ultrasound transducer that is covered in sterile plastic bag . Short axis (transverse) is used first to identify the two sacral cornua as two hyperechoic reverse U-shaped structure "Frog sign" and the sacrococcygeal ligament in between and epidural space beneath. An 18-gauge epidural needle (length 90 mm) is used for direct puncture of sacrococcygeal membrane out of plane then the probe is rotated to long axis (longitudinal) and the needle is seen in plane in the epidural space. Injection of 30 ml 0.125% bupivacaine will expand the epidural space.
  • In group (B): Bilateral Ultrasound guided Erector spinae group.
  • The patient will be in the prone position, after skin sterilization, ESP block will be performed at the level of L3. a curvilinear high-frequency ultrasound transducer will be placed sagittal 3 cm lateral to L3 spinous process where a hyperechoic shadow of the transverse process (TP) and erector spinae will be defined. A 22-gauge spinal needle will be inserted in cranial to caudal direction toward TP in plane to the ultrasound transducer until the needle touches the TP crossing the whole muscles. The location of the needle tip will be confirmed by visible normal saline solution separating erector spinae muscle off the bony shadow of the TP on ultrasound imaging. After confirming the needle site, 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine will be injected. The procedure will be repeated following the same steps on the other side.
  • Rescue analgesia :

Intra operative :0.5ug /kg of fentanyl as top-up doses at any time if blood pressure and heart rate increased by more than 20% from baseline reading .

Post-operative : Nalbuphine (0.1 mg/kg) will be given if the pain score > 4/10 at the VAS assessment times or when the patient asks for supplementary analgesia due to an emerging pain in between the assessment points.

02

Conditions studied

  • Acute Postoperative Pain

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • caudal
  • Erector spinae block
  • lumbar surgery
03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,093 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,140 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 50 is below the median of 75 across 4,344 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Cairo University is the lead sponsor of 4,780 studies on the registry; 1,427 are open to participants now.

Of its 36 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 5 (14%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients undergoing Lumbar spine surgery (L1-L5).
  • American society of anesthesiologists classification (ASA) I and II.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient's refusal.
  • Bleeding disorders (platelets count \< 150,000; International normalized ratio >1.5; PC\< 60%) and coagulopathies.
  • Skin lesion, wounds or infection at the injection site.
  • Known allergy to local anesthetic drugs.
  • Chronic opioid or NSAIDS users.
  • Patients with pre-operative opioid consumption
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    caudal epidural group

    the patient will be positioned in prone position, sterilized from the iliac crest margin to the lower buttock by betadine three times and will be covered by sterile drapes exposing the sacral area. Sacral horns will be palpated and sacral hiatus and epidural area will be determined at S4-S5 level through the ultrasound linear transducer probe that is covered in sterile plastic bag . Short axis (transverse) is used first to identify the two sacral cornua as two hyperechoic reverse U-shaped structure "Frog sign" and the sacrococcygeal ligament in between and epidural space beneath. An 18-gauge epidural needle (length 90 mm) is used for direct puncture of sacrococcygeal membrane out of plane then the probe is rotated to long axis (longitudinal) and the needle is seen in plane in the epidural space. Injection of 30 ml 0.125% bupivacaine will expand the epidural space.

    Procedure: caudal block

  • Experimental
    Erector spinae group

    ● The patient will be in the prone position, after skin sterilization, ESP block will be performed at the level of L3. a curvilinear high-frequency ultrasound transducer (Siemens acuson x300 3-5 MHz ultrasound) will be placed sagittal 3 cm lateral to L3 spinous process where a hyperechoic shadow of the transverse process (TP) and erector spinae will be defined. A 22-gauge spinal needle will be inserted in cranial to caudal direction toward TP in plane to the ultrasound transducer until the needle touches the TP crossing the whole muscles. The location of the needle tip will be confirmed by visible normal saline solution separating erector spinae muscle off the bony shadow of the TP on ultrasound imaging. After confirming the needle site, 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine will be injected. The procedure will be repeated following the same steps on the other side.

    Procedure: Erector spinae block

Interventions

  • Procedurecaudal block

    . Sacral horns will be palpated and sacral hiatus and epidural area will be determined at S4-S5 level through the ultrasound,. Short axis (transverse) is used first to identify the two sacral cornua as two hyperechoic reverse U-shaped structure "Frog sign" and the sacrococcygeal ligament in between and epidural space beneath. An 18-gauge epidural needle (length 90 mm) is used for direct puncture of sacrococcygeal membrane out of plane then the probe is rotated to long axis (longitudinal) and the needle is seen in plane in the epidural space. Injection of 30 ml 0.125% bupivacaine will expand the epidural space.

    Also known as: caudal epidural block

  • ProcedureErector spinae block

    ● The patient will be in the prone position, after skin sterilization, ESP block will be performed at the level of L3. a curvilinear high-frequency ultrasound transducer (Siemens acuson x300 3-5 MHz ultrasound) will be placed sagittal 3 cm lateral to L3 spinous process where a hyperechoic shadow of the transverse process (TP) and erector spinae will be defined. A 22-gauge spinal needle will be inserted in cranial to caudal direction toward TP in plane to the ultrasound transducer until the needle touches the TP crossing the whole muscles. The location of the needle tip will be confirmed by visible normal saline solution separating erector spinae muscle off the bony shadow of the TP on ultrasound imaging. After confirming the needle site, 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine will be injected. The procedure will be repeated following the same steps on the other side.

    Also known as: ESP block

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. time to first analgesia request

    postoperative first rescue analgesia time

    Time frame: 12 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. cumulative 24 hours opioid consumption

    the total amount of opioid consumed by the patient in the first 24 hours postoperative

    Time frame: 24 hours

  2. presence of any complications

    presence of any complications such as urine retention,vomiting ,respiratory depression

    Time frame: 24 hours

  3. Mean arterial blood pressure

    intraoperative mean arterial blood pressure

    Time frame: evey 10 minutes intraoperative till end of surgery (up to 2 hours)

  4. Heart rate

    intraoperative heart rate

    Time frame: every 10 minutes intraoperative till end of surgery(up to 2 hours)

  5. VAS score

    The visual analog score (VAS) is a validated,subjective measure for acute and chronic pain.scores are recorded by making a handwritten mark on a 10 cm line that represents a continuum between "no pain" and "worst pain"

    Time frame: at 15 & 30 mins, then at 2, 6, 12, 24 hours post-operatively

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Kasr Alainy Hospitals
    Giza, Cairo 11562, Egypt
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 26, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05351203
Lead sponsor
Cairo University
Responsible party
Abd elmoneim Adel Abd elmoneim (clinical professor, Cairo University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 28, 2022
Start date
May 8, 2022
Primary completion
Sep 15, 2022
Completion
May 22, 2023
Last update
Sep 26, 2023

Study contacts

mohamed F mohamed, ass prof.
study director · Anesthesia department , Cairo university
Gomaa Z Hussein, professor
principal investigator · Anesthesia department , Cairo university

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2023. 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.

Start the discussion