ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07660380Updated Jul 21, 2026

Oliceridine vs Sufentanil for Cough During Anesthesia Induction

A Phase 4 interventional study of Oliceridine and Sufentanil in Cough and Anesthesia, sponsored by Shiyou Wei. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 99 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-21.

Sponsored by Shiyou Wei · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jul 2026, 3 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jun 2026; still recruiting 4 months later.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
62
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 99 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Sufentanil is the most widely used opioid analgesic for general anaesthesia induction; however, rapid intravenous bolus injection frequently triggers sufentanil-induced cough (SIC). In high-risk patients, SIC can cause abrupt elevation of intracranial and intraocular pressure and severe haemodynamic instability, posing a meaningful safety risk during the induction period.

Oliceridine, the first G protein-biased μ-opioid receptor agonist approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2020, provides analgesia through μ-receptor activation while substantially reducing β-arrestin-2 recruitment. This biased signalling profile is hypothesised to raise the excitation threshold of airway C-fibres and thereby reduce the incidence of cough.

This prospective, single-centre, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group controlled trial directly compares oliceridine with sufentanil for general anaesthesia induction with respect to cough incidence, cough severity, haemodynamic responses, and perioperative safety, with the aim of providing evidence-based guidance for opioid selection during induction.

Read the detailed description

Rapid intravenous bolus injection of sufentanil frequently triggers sufentanil-induced cough (SIC). Although several prophylactic strategies have been described, all rely on adding a pretreatment agent on top of sufentanil - a reactive, patch-based approach that does not address the underlying cause. Oliceridine, a G protein-biased μ-opioid receptor agonist, preserves analgesic efficacy while substantially reducing β-arrestin-2 recruitment. This biased signalling profile is hypothesised to reduce cough risk at its origin by maintaining normal desensitisation of airway C-fibre transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels and preserving β₂-adrenergic receptor-mediated bronchodilatory reserve in airway smooth muscle. Furthermore, oliceridine is formulated as a fumarate salt; because conventional fentanyl-class agents use citrate formulations, this difference eliminates a potential chemical cough stimulus at the formulation level. This prospective, single-centre, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group controlled trial directly compares oliceridine with sufentanil for general anaesthesia induction. A randomisation sequence will be generated by an independent statistician and concealed using sealed opaque envelopes; both the attending anaesthesiologist and the data recorder will remain blinded to group allocation throughout the study. Participants in the oliceridine group will receive intravenous oliceridine 0.05 mg/kg (elderly patients) or 0.06 mg/kg (younger patients) as a 2-second bolus, whereas participants in the sufentanil group will receive intravenous sufentanil 0.25μg/kg (elderly patients) or 0.3 μg/kg (younger patients) as a 2-second bolus. Cough will be observed for 2 minutes after injection, after which anaesthesia induction will be completed with propofol 2.0 mg/kg followed by rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg, and tracheal intubation will be performed. The primary outcome is the incidence of cough within 2 minutes of study drug injection. Secondary outcomes include cough severity (mild, moderate, or severe); haemodynamic variables - heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure - at time points T0 through T5; incidence of haemodynamic adverse events, including bradycardia and hypotension; and opioid-related adverse events, including chest wall rigidity, apnoea, and arterial oxygen saturation below 95%. Assuming a cough incidence of 40% in the sufentanil group and an expected reduction to 10% in the oliceridine group, with a two-sided α of 0.05 and 80% power, 30 participants per group are required; accounting for a 5% dropout rate, 31 participants will be enrolled per group, for a total of 62 participants. The trial will be conducted in the Department of Anaesthesiology, Tianmen First People's Hospital, Tianmen, Hubei, China (a tertiary Grade-A hospital).

02

Conditions studied

  • Cough
  • Anesthesia

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Keywords

  • Oliceridine
  • Sufentanil
  • Sufentanil-induced cough
  • G protein-biased agonist
  • Anesthesia induction
03

In context

Cough

427 studies on the registry are indexed under Cough; 67 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 62 is below the median of 80 across 319 interventional studies indexed under Cough.

Browse Cough studies →

Lead sponsor

Shiyou Wei is the lead sponsor of 13 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
18 Years to 99 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

  • Aged 18 to 99 years.
  • (ASA) physical status classification I, II, or III.
  • (BMI) between 18.5 and 28.0 kg/m².
  • Scheduled for elective surgery under general anaesthesia.
  • Able to understand the study procedures and provide written .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Preoperative upper respiratory tract infection symptoms (e.g., cough, expectoration, or fever) or a history of bronchial asthma or other conditions associated with increased airway reactivity.
  • Severe cardiovascular disease (e.g., uncontrolled hypertension, recent myocardial infarction, or serious arrhythmia) or hepatic or renal dysfunction.
  • Long-term opioid use, defined as continuous opioid use for more than 2 weeks within the 3 months prior to surgery.
  • Known to any study drug or anaesthetic agent used in this protocol.
  • Anticipated difficult airway requiring awake intubation.
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
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.

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.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Oliceridine Group

    Participants will receive intravenous oliceridine 0.05 mg/kg (elderly patients aged ≥65 years) or 0.06 mg/kg (younger patients aged 18-64 years), administered as a 2-second bolus injection. Cough will be observed for 2 minutes after injection, after which anaesthesia induction will be completed with propofol and rocuronium , followed by tracheal intubation.

    Drug: Oliceridine

  • Active comparator
    Sufentanil Group

    Participants will receive intravenous sufentanil 0.25 μg/kg (elderly patients aged ≥65 years) or 0.3 μg/kg (younger patients aged 18-64 years), administered as a 2-second bolus injection. Cough will be observed for 2 minutes after injection, after which anaesthesia induction will be completed with propofol and rocuronium , followed by tracheal intubation.

    Drug: Sufentanil

Interventions

  • Oliceridine is administered as a single intravenous bolus over 2 seconds at a dose of 0.05 mg/kg in elderly patients (aged ≥65 years) or 0.06 mg/kg in younger patients (aged 18-64 years), immediately before propofol and rocuronium for anaesthesia induction.

    Also known as: TRV130, Oliceridine Fumarate

  • Sufentanil is administered as a single intravenous bolus over 2 seconds at a dose of 0.25 μg/kg in elderly patients (aged ≥65 years) or 0.3 μg/kg in younger patients (aged 18-64 years), immediately before propofol and rocuronium for anaesthesia induction.

    Also known as: Sufentanil Citrate

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of Cough

    The proportion of participants who cough at least once within 2 minutes of study drug injection. Cough is defined as a sudden, forceful expiratory effort occurring after drug administration and assessed by direct observation.

    Time frame: Within 2 minutes of study drug injection

Secondary outcomes

  1. Cough Severity

    Cough severity is graded on a three-point scale: mild (1-2 coughs), moderate (3-4 coughs or sustained cough lasting \<5 seconds), or severe (≥5 coughs or sustained cough lasting ≥5 seconds).

    Time frame: Within 2 minutes of study drug injection.

  2. Heart rate

    Heart rate recorded at baseline, immediately after drug injection, and at 1, 2, 3, and 5 minutes after injection .

    Time frame: From entry into the operating room to 10 minutes after administration of the study drug.

  3. Blood pressure

    Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure recorded at baseline, immediately after drug injection, and at 1, 2, 3, and 5 minutes after injection .

    Time frame: From entry into the operating room to 10 minutes after administration of the study drug.

  4. Opioid-related Adverse Events

    Incidence of chest wall rigidity, apnoea, and arterial oxygen saturation below 92% occurring after study drug injection and before tracheal intubation.

    Time frame: From study drug injection to completion of tracheal intubation, approximately 10 minutes.

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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 Jun 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jul 2026, 0 months after the start.

Of 20 phase 4 interventional studies under Cough, half reached primary completion within 13 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 33. This study's planned 0 months is below that.

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

Registered
Jun 14, 2026
First posted
Jun 22, 2026
StartActual
Jun 27, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Jul 25, 2026
CompletionEst.
Jul 28, 2026
Last update
Jul 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 Jul 21, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07660380
Lead sponsor
Shiyou Wei
Collaborators
Tianmen First People's Hospital
Responsible party
Shiyou Wei (Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Shanghai, China) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Jun 22, 2026
Start date
Jun 27, 2026
Primary completion
Jul 25, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 28, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 21, 2026

Study contacts

Shiyou Wei, MD.
Contact
lovewishyou@tongji.edu.cn
15601680288
Shiyou Wei
study chair · Tongji University Affiliated Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital

Oversight

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

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Studies of the drug tested here: Oliceridine

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