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Not yet recruitingNCT07837492Updated Sep 23, 2026

Ultrasound-Guided Ilioinguinal-Iliohypogastric Nerve Block Following Spinal Anesthesia Comparing Dexmedetomidine Versus Nalbuphine as Adjuvants to Bupivacaine in Unilateral Inguinal Hernia Repair

A Phase 4 interventional study of Bupivacaine and Nalbuphine in Inguinal Hernia and Postoperative Pain, sponsored by Assiut University. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-23.

Sponsored by Assiut University · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
102
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study evaluates and compares the pain-relieving efficacy and safety of adding either dexmedetomidine or nalbuphine to bupivacaine in an ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block for patients undergoing elective unilateral inguinal hernia repair under spinal anesthesia.

While spinal anesthesia provides effective surgical anesthesia, postoperative pain often increases as the block recedes. Supplementing spinal anesthesia with an ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve block targeting the ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerves provides localized pain relief. Adding adjuvant medications to the local anesthetic may extend the duration of pain control and reduce systemic analgesic requirements.

Participants are randomly allocated to one of three groups:

  • Control Group: Receives bupivacaine with normal saline.
  • Nalbuphine Group: Receives bupivacaine combined with nalbuphine.
  • Dexmedetomidine Group: Receives bupivacaine combined with dexmedetomidine.

The primary objective is to assess the duration of analgesia by measuring the time from the regression of spinal sensory anesthesia until the first request for rescue pain medication. Secondary objectives include evaluating total 24-hour pain medication consumption, postoperative pain scores, vital signs, sedation scores, patient satisfaction, and side effects.

02

Conditions studied

  • Inguinal Hernia
  • Postoperative Pain

Keywords

  • Ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block
  • Dexmedetomidine
  • Nalbuphine
  • Bupivacaine
  • Spinal anesthesia
  • Postoperative analgesia
03

In context

Hernia, Inguinal

543 studies on the registry are indexed under Hernia, Inguinal; 92 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 102 is above the median of 90 across 395 interventional studies indexed under Hernia, Inguinal.

Browse Hernia, Inguinal studies →

Lead sponsor

Assiut University is the lead sponsor of 5,078 studies on the registry; 2,178 are open to participants now.

Of its 14 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) 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
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

  • Age 18 to 65 years
  • (ASA) physical status I or II
  • Scheduled for elective unilateral primary inguinal hernia repair under spinal anesthesia supplemented with ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block
  • Body weight between 45 and 100 kg and (BMI) \<= 35 kg/m\^2
  • Ability to understand the study protocol, comply with study requirements, and communicate pain intensity using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known allergy or to amide-type local anesthetics, dexmedetomidine, or nalbuphine
  • to spinal anesthesia (e.g., severe hypovolemia, elevated intracranial pressure, active infection at the lumbar puncture site, severe spinal deformity)
  • History of neurological disorders (e.g., peripheral neuropathy, myopathy, seizure disorders, or cognitive impairment)
  • Coagulopathy, concurrent anticoagulant therapy, or local infection at the block site contraindicating regional anesthesia
  • Severe hepatic, renal, or cardiovascular disease (e.g., heart block, uncontrolled hypertension, ischemic heart disease, severe valvular disease, chronic renal failure, or liver cirrhosis)
  • History of opioid or substance abuse
  • Emergency surgical procedures
  • Procedures expected to exceed 3 hours or requiring conversion to general anesthesia
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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Group C: Bupivacaine Control

    Patients undergo ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block immediately following spinal anesthesia with a total injectate volume of 10 mL consisting of 8 mL 0.5% bupivacaine (40 mg) and 2 mL sterile normal saline (final bupivacaine concentration 0.4%).

    Drug: Bupivacaine

  • Experimental
    Group N: Nalbuphine Adjuvant

    Patients undergo ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block immediately following spinal anesthesia with a total injectate volume of 10 mL consisting of 8 mL 0.5% bupivacaine (40 mg) and nalbuphine 10 mg diluted with sterile normal saline to 10 mL (final bupivacaine concentration 0.4%).

    Drug: Bupivacaine · Drug: Nalbuphine

  • Experimental
    Group D: Dexmedetomidine Adjuvant

    Patients undergo ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block immediately following spinal anesthesia with a total injectate volume of 10 mL consisting of 8 mL 0.5% bupivacaine (40 mg) and dexmedetomidine 1 µg/kg diluted with sterile normal saline to 10 mL (final bupivacaine concentration 0.4%).

    Drug: Bupivacaine · Drug: Dexmedetomidine

Interventions

  • Single-injection ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (IIIH) nerve block administered immediately after spinal anesthesia. The injectate consists of 8 mL 0.5% bupivacaine (40 mg) combined with 2 mL sterile 0.9% normal saline to achieve a total volume of 10 mL (final bupivacaine concentration 0.4%).

  • Single-injection ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (IIIH) nerve block administered immediately after spinal anesthesia. The injectate consists of 8 mL 0.5% bupivacaine (40 mg) combined with nalbuphine 10 mg, diluted with sterile 0.9% normal saline to achieve a total volume of 10 mL (final bupivacaine concentration 0.4%).

  • Single-injection ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (IIIH) nerve block administered immediately after spinal anesthesia. The injectate consists of 8 mL 0.5% bupivacaine (40 mg) combined with dexmedetomidine 1 µg/kg, diluted with sterile 0.9% normal saline to achieve a total volume of 10 mL (final bupivacaine concentration 0.4%).

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Time to First Rescue Analgesia

    Time in minutes from the documented regression of spinal sensory block to the T12 dermatome until the patient's first request for rescue analgesia, administered when the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain score is 4 or greater (scale of 0 = no pain to 10 = worst imaginable pain).

    Time frame: Up to 24 hours postoperatively

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Start is estimated for Oct 2026; primary completion for Oct 2027, 12 months later.

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

Registered
Sep 18, 2026
First posted
Sep 23, 2026
StartEst.
Oct 2026
Primary completionEst.
Oct 2027
CompletionEst.
Nov 2027
Last update
Sep 23, 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 23, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07837492
Lead sponsor
Assiut University
Responsible party
Mohammed Ayman Abd El-khaleq (Resident, Assiut University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 23, 2026
Start date
Oct 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Oct 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 23, 2026

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Nalbuphine · Dexmedetomidine

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