The Efficacy and Safety of Liposomal Bupivacaine for Rhomboid Intercostal Nerve Block in Relieving Postoperative Pain After Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

NCT07441902 | Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: KY2025-289-02-2
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 134
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is less invasive compared to traditional thoracotomy. It is reported that the incidence of acute pain following VATS exceeds 80%. Inadequate postoperative analgesia may trigger a series of adverse physiological stress responses, increase the occurrence of postoperative complications, and affect the rehabilitation process.If acute pain is not managed promptly and sufficiently, nearly one-quarter of patients may develop chronic pain, impacting normal life and sleep quality after discharge.In recent years, multimodal postoperative analgesia protocols have been increasingly adopted in clinical practice. The Rhomboid intercostal block (RIB), as a novel regional anesthesia technique within the multimodal analgesia framework, has been widely utilized in various thoracic surgical procedures. Liposomal bupivacaine, an innovative long-acting sustained-release amide local anesthetic, provides prolonged analgesia for up to 72 hours. However, its efficacy and safety in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) have not yet been fully validated. Based on this premise, the present study aims to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes of ultrasound-guided Rhomboid intercostal block (RIB) utilizing liposomal bupivacaine combined with conventional bupivacaine for postoperative pain management in patients undergoing VATS.

Conditions

Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS); Pain Management; Liposomal Bupivacaine; Rhomboid Intercostal Block

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Intravenous Morphine Equivalents of Rescue Analgesic Medications Within 48 Hours Postoperatively

  The postoperative period 48 hours.

Secondary Outcomes (17)

• Area Under the Curve (AUC) of Numeric Rating Scale at rest (NRSr) Within 0-72 Hours Postoperatively

  Data will be collected at 2 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours postoperatively.

• Numeric Rating Scale at rest (NRSr) at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively

  Postoperative day 7, month 1, and month 3.

• Time to request of first analgesia

  Within 48 hours postoperatively.

• Cumulative sufentanil dose for four separate periods (0-4, 4-8, 8-24, and 24-48 h), a total press count including both valid and invalid presses

  Postoperative Hours 4, 8, 24, and 48.

• Duration days of Oral Oxycodone and Acetaminophen Tablets Administration

  Within 3 months postoperatively.

Study Arms (2)

Bupivacaine hydrochloride

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Drug: Bupivacaine hydrochloride

Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine

EXPERIMENTAL

Drug: Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine

Interventions

Bupivacaine hydrochloride DRUG

Prior to surgical incision, the Doppler ultrasound-guided injection technique will be employed. A 22-gauge block needle will be inserted at the medial border of the scapula at the T5-T6 vertebral level using an in-plane approach. Upon reaching the rhomboid-intercostal fascial plane, 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine will be administered. The patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump solution consists of 100 μg sufentanil and 16 mg ondansetron diluted with normal saline to a total volume of 100 mL. Postoperatively, patients may self-administer a 2-mL bolus per demand, with a lockout interval of 10 minutes. Should analgesia remain inadequate after four consecutive boluses, one tablet of oxycodone-acetaminophen(containing 5 mg oxycodone hydrochloride and 325 mg acetaminophen) may be administered orally, with a minimum repeat dosing interval of 6 hours. For persistent pain, intravenous morphine 5 mg may be administered at intervals no shorter than 4 hours.

Bupivacaine hydrochloride

Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine DRUG

Prior to surgical incision, the Doppler ultrasound-guided injection technique will be employed. A 22-gauge block needle will be inserted at the medial border of the scapula at the T5-T6 vertebral level using an in-plane approach. Upon reaching the rhomboid-intercostal fascial plane, 20 mL of a mixed solution-comprising 10 mL of liposomal bupivacaine (133 mg) and 10 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine diluted in normal saline-will be administered. The patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump solution consists of 100 μg sufentanil and 16 mg ondansetron diluted with normal saline to a total volume of 100 mL. Postoperatively, patients may self-administer a 2-mL bolus per demand, with a lockout interval of 10 minutes. Should analgesia remain inadequate after four consecutive boluses, one tablet of oxycodone-acetaminophen may be administered orally, with a minimum repeat dosing interval of 6 hours. For persistent pain, intravenous morphine 5 mg may be administered at intervals no shorter than 4 hours.

Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 64 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Patients scheduled for elective video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy or wedge resection under general anesthesia;
• Ages 18 to 64 years old；
• American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of I-III；
• Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 15；
• Patients must be able to understand the nature and potential personal consequences of the clinical trial, signing of the informed consent form.

You may not qualify if:

• History of chronic pain syndrome of any cause.
• Patients with heart conduction block (sinus block or atrioventricular block).
• Patients with unstable coronary artery disease.
• Patients with gastric ulcer or gastric bleeding.
• Patients with diabetes and are being treated with insulin.
• Subjects with coagulation dysfunction (prothrombin time or activated partial thromboplastin time is higher than the normal threshold) or patients who are taking oral anticoagulants for other medical reasons and have not stopped it before surgery, such as warfarin or new anticoagulants rivaroxaban or dabigatran.
• Patients with abnormal liver function: alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) \> 2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) or total bilirubin (TBIL) ≥ 1.5×ULN.
• Patients with renal impairment (serum creatinine \> 176 µmol/L) or receiving dialysis treatment within 28 days before surgery.
• Patients with a history of diagnosed mental illness or currently taking psychotropic medication.
• Excessive alcohol or drug abuse, chronic opioid use (more than 2 weeks or 3 days per week for more than 1 month), use of drugs with confirmed or suspected sedative or analgesic effects, or use of any painkiller within 24 h before surgery.
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Extreme body mass index (BMI) (\< 15 or \> 35).
• Participation in another interventional trial that interferes with the intervention or outcome of this trial.
• Patients with a history of allergy to local anaesthetics or one of the study drugs.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Beijing Tiantan Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Beijing Tiantan Hospital

Beijing, Beijing Municipality, 100070, China

RECRUITING

Related Publications (4)

• Ciftci B, Alver S, Gungor H, Golboyu BE, Subasi M, Omur B, Gul YG, Ekinci M. The efficacy of rhomboid intercostal block for pain management after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a prospective, randomized-controlled trial. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2024 Dec;72(12):779-785. doi: 10.1007/s11748-024-02036-8. Epub 2024 Apr 26.

  PMID: 38668898 BACKGROUND

• Wang X, Jia X, Li Z, Zhou Q. Rhomboid intercostal block or thoracic paravertebral block for postoperative recovery quality after video-assisted thoracic surgery: A prospective, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2023 Sep 1;40(9):652-659. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000001872. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

  PMID: 37377368 BACKGROUND

• Chen R, Su S, Shu H. Efficacy and safety of rhomboid intercostal block for analgesia in breast surgery and thoracoscopic surgery: a meta-analysis. BMC Anesthesiol. 2022 Mar 16;22(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s12871-022-01599-4.

  PMID: 35296252 BACKGROUND

• Zhang JG, Jiang CW, Deng W, Liu F, Wu XP. Comparison of Rhomboid Intercostal Block, Erector Spinae Plane Block, and Serratus Plane Block on Analgesia for Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Trial. Int J Clin Pract. 2022 Jun 23;2022:6924489. doi: 10.1155/2022/6924489. eCollection 2022.

  PMID: 35832798 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Agnosia

Interventions

Bupivacaine

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Perceptual Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Anilides; Amides; Organic Chemicals; Aniline Compounds; Amines

Study Officials

• Fang Luo

  Beijing Tiantan Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Fang Luo

CONTACT

+86 13611326978; 13611326978@163.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: QUADRUPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Director, Department of Ambulatory Surgery, Principal Investigator, Clinical Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 11, 2026
• First Posted: March 2, 2026
• Study Start: March 2, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027
• Last Updated: March 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

CN (1)