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Not yet recruitingNCT07926373acb blockUpdated Nov 9, 2026

Proximal, Mid, and Distal Adductor Canal Block for Pain Control After Total Knee Arthroplasty

An interventional study of Proximal Adductor Canal Block and Mid Adductor Canal Block in Postoperative Pain, Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee and Knee Osteoarthritis, sponsored by Bursa City Hospital. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-09.

Sponsored by Bursa City Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Updated Nov 9, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
120
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn which level of adductor canal block (proximal, mid, or distal) gives the best pain relief after total knee replacement while preserving leg muscle strength. The study includes adults aged 18-75 having knee replacement under spinal anesthesia.

The main question is: Does the block level change how much opioid (tramadol) patients need in the first 24 hours after surgery?

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups and receive an ultrasound-guided block with 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine before surgery. Pain, opioid use, numbness, muscle function, walking ability, side effects, and recovery quality will be assessed for 48 hours after surgery.

Read the detailed description

The adductor canal block (ACB) is widely used for analgesia after total knee arthroplasty because it preserves quadriceps strength better than the femoral nerve block. However, the optimal injection level within the canal is unclear.

In this prospective, randomized, double-blind study, 120 patients will be randomized 1:1:1 to proximal, mid, or distal ACB. All blocks will be performed preoperatively under ultrasound guidance with an in-plane technique, using 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine. Spinal anesthesia will then be performed. Postoperative analgesia will be standardized for all patients and will include paracetamol, NSAIDs when appropriate, tramadol via patient-controlled analgesia, and meperidine 50 mg as rescue analgesia.

The anesthesiologist performing the block will not take part in data collection. Patients, outcome assessors, and the statistician will be blinded to group allocation.

02

Conditions studied

  • Postoperative Pain
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee
  • Knee Osteoarthritis

Keywords

  • Adductor Canal Block
  • Total Knee Arthroplasty
  • Opioid Consumption
  • Saphenous Nerve
  • Regional Anesthesia
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 120 is above the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Bursa City Hospital is the lead sponsor of 71 studies on the registry; 31 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 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 75 years
  • (ASA) physical status I-III
  • Scheduled for elective unilateral total knee arthroplasty
  • Surgery planned under spinal anesthesia
  • Cognitively able to use a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device
  • Willing to participate and provided written

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal to participate
  • Allergy to local anesthetics or history of local anesthetic toxicity
  • Allergy to tramadol or other study analgesics
  • Coagulopathy
  • Inability to appropriately discontinue anticoagulant therapy
  • Infection at the injection site
  • Pre-existing motor or sensory deficit in the operative limb
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Significant diabetes-related neuropathy
  • Chronic opioid use
  • Regular analgesic or opioid use due to a chronic pain syndrome
  • Advanced hepatic failure
  • Advanced renal failure
  • Severe cardiac disease
  • Psychiatric illness or cognitive impairment preventing pain assessment
  • Substance or alcohol dependence
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • (BMI) > 40 kg/m²
  • Revision knee arthroplasty
  • Bilateral knee arthroplasty
  • to spinal 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.

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.

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.

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
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
120 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Proximal Adductor Canal Block

    Ultrasound-guided adductor canal block performed in the proximal subsartorial segment, near the apex of the femoral triangle, using 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine before spinal anesthesia.

    Other: Proximal Adductor Canal Block

  • Active comparator
    Mid Adductor Canal Block

    Ultrasound-guided adductor canal block performed at the classic mid-thigh level, where the femoral artery lies beneath the sartorius muscle, using 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine before spinal anesthesia.

    Other: Mid Adductor Canal Block

  • Active comparator
    Distal Adductor Canal Block

    Ultrasound-guided adductor canal block performed in the distal segment of the adductor canal, proximal to the adductor hiatus, using 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine before spinal anesthesia.

    Other: Distal Adductor Canal Block

Interventions

  • OtherProximal Adductor Canal Block

    Ultrasound-guided in-plane injection in the proximal subsartorial segment, near the apex of the femoral triangle, where the sartorius muscle begins to cover the femoral artery.

  • OtherMid Adductor Canal Block

    Ultrasound-guided in-plane injection at the classic mid-thigh level, where the femoral artery lies beneath the sartorius muscle.

  • OtherDistal Adductor Canal Block

    Ultrasound-guided in-plane injection in the distal adductor canal, proximal to the adductor hiatus, where the saphenous nerve begins to separate from the femoral artery.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Total Tramadol Consumption in the First 24 Hours

    Cumulative tramadol consumption (mg) delivered via patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) during the first 24 hours after surgery.

    Time frame: Postoperative 0-24 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. Pain Scores at Rest

    Pain at rest assessed with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS; 0 = no pain, 10 = worst imaginable pain).

    Time frame: Postoperative 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 hours

  2. Pain Scores During Movement

    Pain during standardized knee flexion or active/passive movement assessed with the NRS (0-10).

    Time frame: Postoperative 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 hours

  3. Tramadol Consumption at Predefined Intervals

    PCA tramadol consumption (mg) in the 0-4, 4-8, 8-24, and 24-48 hour intervals and cumulative 48-hour consumption.

    Time frame: Postoperative 0-48 hours

  4. Time to First Rescue Analgesic Request

    Time (minutes) from the end of surgery to the first administration of rescue analgesia (meperidine 50 mg), given when NRS is 4 or higher or analgesia is inadequate despite PCA.

    Time frame: Postoperative 0-48 hours

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Nov 9, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Nov 9, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

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 ↗

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07926373
Lead sponsor
Bursa City Hospital
Collaborators
Ulusoy, Emre, M.D.
Responsible party
Mursel Ekinci (prof., Bursa City Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 9, 2026
Start date
Nov 10, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Feb 15, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Feb 15, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 9, 2026

Oversight

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

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