ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07394816FPB-PPCUpdated Apr 30, 2026

Can Ultrasound-Guided Fascial Plane Blocks Reduce Postoperative Pulmonary Complications After Major Abdominal Surgery?

An observational study in Postoperative Pulmonary Complications (PPCs), Abdominal Surgeries and Postoperative Pain Management, sponsored by Dr Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 65 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-30.

Sponsored by Dr Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital · Observational

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Aug 2026, 3 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Mar 2026; still recruiting 8 months later.
Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
500
Ages
65 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This prospective observational study aims to evaluate whether the use of ultrasound-guided fascial plane blocks is associated with a lower incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in adult patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery under general anesthesia.

Patients will be observed in two groups based on routine clinical practice: those who receive an ultrasound-guided fascial plane block for postoperative analgesia and those managed with other standard analgesic methods. The choice of analgesic technique will be determined by the responsible anesthesia team and not influenced by the study.

Postoperative pulmonary complications occurring within the first 7 days after surgery will be recorded using reopening the European Perioperative Clinical Outcome (EPCO) criteria. Secondary outcomes will include unplanned intensive care unit admission, length of hospital stay, and 30-day mortality. No additional procedures or interventions will be performed for research purposes.

02

Conditions studied

  • Postoperative Pulmonary Complications (PPCs)
  • Abdominal Surgeries
  • Postoperative Pain Management

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03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 500 is above the median of 102 across 683 observational studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Dr Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital is the lead sponsor of 75 studies on the registry; 18 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
65 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

The study population consists of patients aged 65 years and older who are scheduled to undergo elective major abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. Eligible participants will be managed in a tertiary care hospital and will be allocated to either a fascial plane block group or a control group receiving standard perioperative analgesia. The study aims to evaluate postoperative outcomes in an elderly surgical population with comparable baseline characteristics.

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

  • Age 65 years or older
  • Scheduled for elective major abdominal surgery (e.g., colorectal, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, or gastric surgery)
  • II-III
  • Ability to provide written
  • Planned use of general anesthesia with or without adjunct regional techniques

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal or inability to provide
  • Known allergy or to local anesthetics
  • Coagulopathy or ongoing anticoagulant therapy contraindicating regional anesthesia
  • Infection at the site of planned block
  • Pre-existing chronic opioid use or chronic pain syndrome
  • Severe hepatic, renal, or cardiac failure (e.g., C, end-stage renal disease, EF \<30%)
  • Cognitive impairment or severe dementia preventing adequate pain assessment
  • Emergency surgery
  • (BMI > 40 kg/m²)
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(5)

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.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Child-Pugh class

A score of how well the liver works in people with liver disease such as cirrhosis: class A is mild, B moderate and C severe.

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.

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
500 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Fascial Plane Block Group

    Patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery who receive an ultrasound-guided fascial plane block at the end of surgery as part of routine clinical practice for postoperative analgesia. The decision to perform the block is made by the responsible anesthesia team and is not influenced by the study protocol.

  • Control Group

    Patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery who do not receive an ultrasound-guided fascial plane block and are managed with other routine postoperative analgesic methods, including epidural analgesia, intravenous patient-controlled analgesia, or oral analgesics, according to standard clinical practice.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs)

    Postoperative pulmonary complications will be defined and recorded according to the European Perioperative Clinical Outcome (EPCO) criteria.

    Time frame: Within the first 7 postoperative days

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Individual participant data will not be shared due to institutional policies and concerns regarding patient confidentiality and data protection.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Mar 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Aug 2026, 5 months after the start.

Of 391 non-industry observational studies under Pain, Postoperative, half reached primary completion within 13 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 32. This study's planned 5 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 395 studies reached it within 13 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 33.

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

Registered
Jan 31, 2026
First posted
Feb 6, 2026
StartActual
Mar 1, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Aug 1, 2026
CompletionEst.
Aug 15, 2026
Last update
Apr 30, 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 Apr 30, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07394816
Lead sponsor
Dr Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital
Responsible party
Arif Timuroğlu, MD (Specialist in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Dr Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 6, 2026
Start date
Mar 1, 2026
Primary completion
Aug 1, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 15, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 30, 2026

Study contacts

arif timuroglu
Contact
ariftimuroglu@yahoo.com
+905072601980
arif timuroglu
principal investigator · Dr. Abdurrahman yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Hospital

Oversight

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

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