An interventional study of Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block and Local Anesthetic Wound Infiltration in Postoperative Pain and Hernia, Inguinal, sponsored by Mayo Hospital Lahore. Completed at 1 site in Pakistan. Open to male participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by Mayo Hospital Lahore · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
This randomized controlled trial compared two methods of pain relief after inguinal hernia repair: an ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and local anesthetic injection around the surgical wound. The study tested the hypothesis that average pain scores differed between the two methods.
The study was conducted in the Department of Anesthesia at King Edward Medical University/an affiliated hospital in Lahore. Eighty male patients aged 18-60 years who underwent planned inguinal hernia repair were included. Patients were randomly assigned by a lottery method to two groups of 40 patients each. One group received an ultrasound-guided TAP block, in which bupivacaine, a local anesthetic, was injected into a space between the abdominal muscle layers to numb the nerves supplying the surgical area. The other group received the same dose of bupivacaine injected into and around the wound margins. Both groups also received paracetamol and diclofenac for pain relief.
The main outcome was the average pain score four hours after treatment. Pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 represented no pain and 10 represented the worst pain. Further pain assessments continued for up to 24 hours after surgery, and patients were monitored for complications related to either procedure.
5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 80 is close to the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.
Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →Mayo Hospital Lahore is the lead sponsor of 16 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Forty patients received an ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block with 0.5% bupivacaine at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg immediately after completion of inguinal hernia repair.
Procedure: Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block · Drug: Bupivacaine
Forty patients received wound infiltration with 0.5% bupivacaine at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg for pain relief after inguinal hernia repair.
Procedure: Local Anesthetic Wound Infiltration · Drug: Bupivacaine
Under ultrasound guidance, a 25-gauge spinal needle was advanced using an in-plane approach into the plane between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles. Bupivacaine was injected after identification of the target plane, and its spread was confirmed by ultrasound.
The surgeon injected bupivacaine into and around the surgical wound margins using a 20-mL syringe and a 25-gauge needle.
Bupivacaine, 0.5%, 1.5 mg/kg, administered into the transversus abdominis plane.
Mean Pain Score at 4 Hours After Treatment
Postoperative pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 represented no pain and 10 represented the worst pain. Higher scores indicated greater pain intensity. Mean pain scores were compared between patients who received an ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block and those who received local anesthetic wound infiltration.
Time frame: 4 Hours After Treatment
Ran from Jan 2026 to primary completion in Jun 2026, 5 months.
Of 2,089 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Pain, Postoperative, half reached primary completion within 11 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 6 and three quarters within 23. This study's 5 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 2,102 studies reached it within 11 months; a quarter within 6 and three quarters within 23.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Mayo Hospital Lahore