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CompletedNCT05919732Updated Apr 2, 2024Results posted

Awake Caudal Catheter vs General Anesthesia

A Phase 4 interventional study of Bupivacaine, Dexmedetomidine, Caffeine, Tylenol and Propofol, rocuronium, caffeine, Tylenol, bupivacaine in Inguinal Hernia, sponsored by Nemours Children's Clinic. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 23 Weeks to 60 Weeks. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-04-02.

Sponsored by Nemours Children's Clinic · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 7 years 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Mar 2016, registered Jun 2023).
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
20
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
23 Weeks to 60 Weeks
Sex
All
01

Study summary

It is well established that preterm inguinal hernias discovered in the NICU pose a significant surgical risk due to the associated co-morbid conditions that accompany these patients. Currently, the standard of care in the United States is general anesthesia. There have been studies that have established that elective outpatient repair of inguinal hernias found in the NICU can be safely performed. Patients that are ready for discharge from the NICU will have inguinal hernia repair prior to leaving. Inguinal hernia repair will also be done on those premature infants that are seen in the Nemours surgical clinic. Spinal anesthesia is currently the most common anesthetic procedure used in the surgical treatment of preterm inguinal hernias after general anesthesia. Caudal catheter technique has been proven to safely provide post-operative care of premature infants. The caudal catheter technique involves placement of a small catheter under ultrasound guidance into the caudal epidural canal to allow re-dosing of local anesthetic during the case and has been shown to be safe and effective management in neonates (Somri M, 2007).

Read the detailed description

This is a prospective, blinded, randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of awake caudal catheter infusion versus single dose caudal injection and general anesthesia in the surgical management of preterm infant inguinal hernia repair. Spinal anesthesia has been advocated for but highly rejected in the pediatric surgical community due to its high failure rate, which can be up to 28%. Spinal anesthesia is a form of regional anesthesia involving injection of a local anesthetic into the subarachnoid space, via a fine needle, in a single injection. The failure rate has to do with the time constraint of spinal anesthesia, which is approximately 1 hour. It is difficult to perform a bilateral inguinal hernia in that time duration, necessitating a return trip to the operating room for the contralateral side or intubation midway through the surgical case. An alternative to spinal anesthesia that results in an ability to sustain regional anesthetic effect for a longer duration is the caudal catheter infusion. We hypothesize that awake caudal catheter infusion will allow for the following benefits (1) greater than 2 hour anesthetic time via re-dosing which will allow for the completion of the planned surgical procedure (2) exhibit a negligible failure rate (3) minimize post-operative complications that have been associated with general anesthesia in the preterm neonate.

02

Conditions studied

  • Inguinal Hernia

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03

In context

Hernia, Inguinal

549 studies on the registry are indexed under Hernia, Inguinal; 74 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 20 is below the median of 90 across 406 interventional studies indexed under Hernia, Inguinal.

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Lead sponsor

Nemours Children's Clinic is the lead sponsor of 127 studies on the registry; 27 are open to participants now.

Of its 9 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (67%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
23 Weeks to 60 Weeks
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Preterm infants less than 60 weeks post gestational age born at less than 37 weeks gestational age.
  • Patients in the NICU will meet discharge criteria with or without supplemental oxygen prior to surgical scheduling for inguinal hernia repair.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient undergoing other invasive procedures (i.e. gastrostomy tube placement, tracheostomy, laser eye treatment)
  • Medical condition that would prevent a regional anesthetic from being performed (i.e. bleeding diathesis, vertebral anomalies, and spinal cord injury prior to surgery)
  • Contradictions to the prescribed medications in the protocol.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Care provider)
Enrollment
20 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Caudal Infusion

    Awake continuous caudal infusion.

    Drug: Bupivacaine, Dexmedetomidine, Caffeine, Tylenol

  • Active comparator
    General anesthesia

    General anesthesia and single-dose caudal injection

    Drug: Propofol, rocuronium, caffeine, Tylenol, bupivacaine

Interventions

  • DrugBupivacaine, Dexmedetomidine, Caffeine, Tylenol

    bupivacaine .3% + 1: 200,000 epinephrine (dose 3mg/kg). Dexmedetomidine 0.5mcg/kg, Caffeine 15mg/kg, rectal Tylenol 30mg/kg

  • DrugPropofol, rocuronium, caffeine, Tylenol, bupivacaine

    propofol 3mg/kg and rocuronium 0.6mg/kg. Caffeine 15mg/kg and rectal Tylenol 30mg/kg. single shot caudal with bupivacaine 0.25% + 1:200,000 epinephrine (total dose 2.5mg/kg)

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants With Return to Baseline Respiratory Function.

    Time frame: Within 24 hours post operative

  2. Surgical Completion.

    Time frame: Within 24 hours

  3. Number of Apneic Episodes.

    Cessation of breathing by a premature infant that lasts for more than 20 seconds and/or is accompanied by hypoxia or bradycardia.

    Time frame: 24 hours post operative

  4. Number of Bradycardia Events.

    heart rate \<90.

    Time frame: 24 hours post operative

Secondary outcomes

  1. Days to Hospital Discharge From Surgery

    Time frame: up to 10 days

  2. Number of Episodes Requiring Post-operative Narcotics Usage.

    Time frame: 24 hours post operative

  3. Operative Time.

    Time frame: Intraoperative, up to 100 minutes.

  4. Participants Requiring Mechanical Ventilation.

    Time frame: After 24 hours post operative

  5. Number of Participants Returning to Full Feeds.

    Time frame: Within 24 hours post operative

07

Results

Posted Apr 2, 2024

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Started119
Completed119
Not completed00

Outcome measures

PrimaryNumber of Participants With Return to Baseline Respiratory Function.
Time frame:
Within 24 hours post operative
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Number of Participants With Return to Baseline Respiratory Function.
ParticipantsCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Number of Participants With Return to Baseline Respiratory Function.119
PrimarySurgical Completion.
Time frame:
Within 24 hours
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Surgical Completion.
ParticipantsCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Surgical Completion.119
PrimaryNumber of Apneic Episodes.

Cessation of breathing by a premature infant that lasts for more than 20 seconds and/or is accompanied by hypoxia or bradycardia.

Time frame:
24 hours post operative
Reported as:
Mean · Episodes
Number of Apneic Episodes.
EpisodesCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Number of Apneic Episodes.0.1 ± 0.30.9 ± 1.2
PrimaryNumber of Bradycardia Events.

heart rate \<90.

Time frame:
24 hours post operative
Reported as:
Mean · episodes
Number of Bradycardia Events.
episodesCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Number of Bradycardia Events.0 ± 01.0 ± 2.0
SecondaryDays to Hospital Discharge From Surgery
Time frame:
up to 10 days
Reported as:
Mean · Days
Days to Hospital Discharge From Surgery
DaysCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Days to Hospital Discharge From Surgery2 ± 21.6 ± 0.7
SecondaryNumber of Episodes Requiring Post-operative Narcotics Usage.
Time frame:
24 hours post operative
Reported as:
Mean · episodes
Number of Episodes Requiring Post-operative Narcotics Usage.
episodesCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Number of Episodes Requiring Post-operative Narcotics Usage.0.3 ± 0.70 ± 0
SecondaryOperative Time.
Time frame:
Intraoperative, up to 100 minutes.
Reported as:
Mean · Minutes
Operative Time.
MinutesCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Operative Time.57 ± 2853 ± 33
SecondaryParticipants Requiring Mechanical Ventilation.
Time frame:
After 24 hours post operative
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Participants Requiring Mechanical Ventilation.
ParticipantsCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Participants Requiring Mechanical Ventilation.00
SecondaryNumber of Participants Returning to Full Feeds.
Time frame:
Within 24 hours post operative
Reported as:
Number · participants
Number of Participants Returning to Full Feeds.
participantsCaudal InfusionGeneral Anesthesia
Number of Participants Returning to Full Feeds.118

Adverse events

Collected over Within 24 hours post-operative. Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Caudal Infusion0/11 (0%)0/11 (0%)0/11 (0%)
General Anesthesia0/9 (0%)0/9 (0%)0/9 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Age, Customized
Age, Customized(weeks)Caudal InfusionGeneral AnesthesiaTotal
Gestational age28.4 ± 3.330.0 ± 4.629.1 ± 3.9
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Caudal InfusionGeneral AnesthesiaTotal
Female134
Male10616
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected(Participants)Caudal InfusionGeneral AnesthesiaTotal
Count of participants——0
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Caudal InfusionGeneral AnesthesiaTotal
United States11920
Weight
Weight(kg)Caudal InfusionGeneral AnesthesiaTotal
Mean3.6 ± 1.03.1 ± 0.93.4 ± 1.0
08

Study locations

1 site
  • Nemours Children's Clinic
    Jacksonville, Florida 32207, United States
09

References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Sep 22, 2015

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

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes

10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 2, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05919732
Lead sponsor
Nemours Children's Clinic
Responsible party
Gohalem Felema (Anesthesiologist, Nemours Children's Clinic) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 26, 2023
Start date
Mar 8, 2016
Primary completion
Mar 8, 2018
Completion
Mar 8, 2018
Results posted
Apr 2, 2024
Last update
Apr 2, 2024

Study contacts

Robert B Bryskin, MD
principal investigator · Nemours Children's Clinic

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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

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