ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05793060Updated Sep 21, 2026

Dexmedetomidine Versus Dexamethasone as Adjuvants to Bupivacaine for Intermediate Cervical Plexus Block

A Phase 4 interventional study of Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride and Dexamethasone Phosphate in Analgesia, sponsored by Damanhour Teaching Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 21 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-21.

Sponsored by Damanhour Teaching Hospital · Phase 4, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Aug 2026; still recruiting 3 months later.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
21 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Background: Many thyroidectomy patients suffer from postoperative pain that could delay early hospital discharge and place a significant burden on both the patient and the healthcare team. Bilateral intermediate cervical plexus block (ICPB) provides good analgesia for neck surgery, including thyroidectomy. However, the duration of a single-shot nerve block is usually short. Therefore, adjuvants are used in peripheral nerve blocks.

Objectives: To compare the safety and efficacy of dexmedetomidine versus dexamethasone as adjuvants to bupivacaine in ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy under general anesthesia.

Patients and Methods: This is a randomized, double-blind, phase four, prospective clinical trial; carried out on 60 patients, who were candidates for total thyroidectomy under general anesthesia at our hospital. Patients were randomly allocated into two equal groups; group A, received bilateral ICPB with isobaric bupivacaine plus dexmedetomidine, and group B, received bilateral ICPB with isobaric bupivacaine plus dexamethasone.

02

Conditions studied

  • Analgesia

Keywords

  • Cervical plexus block
  • Dexamethasone
  • Dexmedetomidine
  • Thyroidectomy
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Damanhour Teaching Hospital is the lead sponsor of 14 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
21 Years to 60 Years
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

  • (ASA) physical status ≤ II
  • Age from 21 to 60 years
  • (BMI) ≤ 35 kg/m2

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • > II
  • Age \< 21 years or > 50 years
  • > 35 kg/m2
  • Bronchial asthma
  • Restrictive lung diseases
  • Sick sinus syndrome
  • Sinus bradycardia
  • Hypertension
  • Chronic hypotension
  • Ischemic heart disease
  • Coagulopathies
  • Hepatic insufficiency
  • Renal insufficiency
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Thyroid
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Substernal goiter
  • Patients on beta-blockers
  • Patients using pacemakers
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Allergy to the study drugs
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

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.

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.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Group A (n=30)

    Dexmedetomidine group

    Drug: Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride

  • Active comparator
    Group B (n=30)

    Dexamethasone group

    Drug: Dexamethasone Phosphate

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Median and Range of Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score [(median (range)]

    NPRS measures the severity of pain, it is a 11 point scale from 0-10; where 0=No pain and 10=Worst possible pain ( At post anesthesia care unit (PACU), then every 2 hours till 24 hours)

    Time frame: 24 hours after the end of the operation

  2. Mean and Standard deviation of Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score (mean±SD)

    NPRS measures the severity of pain, it is a 11 point scale from 0-10; where 0=No pain and 10=Worst possible pain ( At PACU, then every 2 hours till 24 hours)

    Time frame: 24 hours after the end of the operation

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of participants and Percentage of Drug-related side effects

    Number of participants and Rate of: Bradycardia, Hypotension, Dysrhythmia, and Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV)

    Time frame: 24 hours after the end of the operation

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Aug 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2027, 16 months after the start.

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

Registered
Mar 17, 2023
First posted
Mar 31, 2023
StartActual
Aug 1, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Dec 1, 2027
CompletionEst.
Dec 15, 2027
Last update
Sep 21, 2026
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 Sep 21, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05793060
Lead sponsor
Damanhour Teaching Hospital
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 31, 2023
Start date
Aug 1, 2026
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 15, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 21, 2026

Study contacts

Ahmed M Shaat, MD
Contact
ahmedshaat99@gmail.com
00201223482709
Ahmed M Shaat, MD
principal investigator · Damanhour Teaching Hospital

Oversight

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

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Dexmedetomidine · Dexamethasone phosphate

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