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Dexmedetomidine as an Adjuvant for Femoral Nerve Block and Functional Recovery After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Impacts of Dexmedetomidine as an Adjuvant for Femoral Nerve Block on Functional Recovery in Aged Patients After Total Knee Arthroplasty: a Randomized, Double-blinded, Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04642651
Enrollment
170
Registered
2020-11-24
Start date
2020-11-25
Completion date
2022-02-25
Last updated
2022-04-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Dexmedetomidine, Elderly, Femoral Nerve Block, Functional Outcome, Total Knee Arthroplasty

Keywords

Elderly, Total knee arthroplasty, Femoral nerve block, Dexmedetomidine, Functional outcome

Brief summary

Femoral nerve block (FNB) is a first-line analgesic technique for multimodal analgesia after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Recent studies and meta-analysis indicate that dexmedetomidine combined with local anesthetics for FNB can prolong the analgesic duration, improve the analgesic efficacy, inhibit local inflammatory response, and reduce narcotic consumption. The investigators hypothesize that dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine for FNB can also improve functional recovery in aged patients after TKA.

Detailed description

Many patients following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) complain moderate to severe postoperative pain. Multimodal analgesia, a combination of different techniques and analgesic agents, plays an increasingly important role to relieve pain after TKA. Femoral nerve block (FNB) is a first-line analgesic technique for multimodal analgesia after TKA. But local anesthetics alone often exert limited potency of analgesia and are insufficient to avoid supplemental opioid usage. Dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha 2-adrenergic receptor agonist, is widely used in clinical settings due to its properties of sedation, anxiolysis, analgesia, and sleep promotion. Recent studies and meta-analysis indicate that dexmedetomidine combined with local anesthetics for FNB can prolong the analgesic duration, improve the analgesic efficacy, inhibit local inflammatory response, and reduce narcotic consumption. The investigators hypothesize that dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine for FNB can also improve the functional recovery in aged patients after TKA.

Interventions

DRUGDexmedetomidine

Patients in the dexmedetomidine group receive single-shot femoral nerve block preoperatively using a mixture of 0.375% ropivacaine and 1.0 μg/kg dexmedetomidine, in a total volume of 20 ml.

DRUGPlacebo

Patients in the control group receive single-shot femoral nerve block preoperatively using a mixture of 0.375% ropivacaine and normal saline, in a total volume of 20 ml.

Sponsors

Beijing Jishuitan Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Peking University First Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to 89 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥65 years but \<90 years; * Scheduled to undergo unilateral total knee arthroplasty; * Planned to use femoral nerve block and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) for multimodal analgesia.

Exclusion criteria

* Scheduled for bilateral total knee arthroplasty or revision surgery; * Contraindications to femoral nerve block; * Preoperative history of schizophrenia, myasthenia gravis, inability to communicate because of coma, severe dementia, or language barriers; * Preoperative history of hemorrhagic disease or coagulopathy; * Preoperative obstructive sleep apnea (diagnosed sleep apnea syndrome or a STOP-Bang score ≥3 combined with a serum bicarbonate ≥28 mmol/L); * Sick sinus syndrome, severe sinus bradycardia (\< 50 beats per minute), or second-degree or above atrioventricular block without pacemaker; * Severe hepatic dysfunction (Child-Pugh class C), severe renal dysfunction (requirement of renal replacement therapy before surgery), or American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status \>III; * Preexistent delirium (diagnosed by Three-Dimensional Confusion Assessment Method); * Under treatment with dexmedetomidine or clonidine.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Quality of life at 3 months after surgery-mental component summary scoreAt 3 months after surgeryQuality of life is assessed with 12-item short-form (SF-12, it is summarized into physical and mental component summary scores, each ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better quality of life).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Incidence of delirium within the first 3 days after surgeryThe first 3 days after surgeryDelirium is assessed with the Three-dimensional Confusion Assessment Method (3D CAM) twice daily (8:00-10:00 and 18:00-20:00) over the first 3 postoperative hospital days. Patients with endotracheal intubation will be assessed with the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) twice daily during the same period.
Length of stay in hospital after surgeryUp to 30 days after surgeryLength of stay in hospital after surgery
Incidence of non-delirium complications (including all-cause mortality) within 30 days after surgeryUp to 30 days after surgeryIncidence of non-delirium complications (including all-cause mortality) within 30 days after surgery
Quality of life at 3 months after surgery-physical component summary scoreAt 3 months after surgeryQuality of life is assessed with 12-item short-form (SF-12, it is summarized into physical and mental component summary scores, each ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better quality of life).
Cognitive function at 3 months after surgeryAt 3 months after surgeryEvaluated with the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m), a 12-item questionnaire that provides an assessment of global cognitive function by verbal communication via telephone. The score ranges from 0 to 48, with higher score indicating better function.
Event-free survival at 3 months after surgeryAt 3 months after surgeryTime from surgery to new-onset diseases or all-cause death, whichever comes first. New-onset disease indicates those that required hospital admission and/or interventional procedure.
The overall subjective sleep quality at 3 months after surgeryAt 3 months after surgeryEvaluated by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which estimates overall subjective sleep quality in the past 30 days. Overall score ranges from 0 to 21. A higher score indicates worse sleep quality, and a score greater than 5 indicates poor sleep quality.
The severity of arthritic symptoms at 3 months after surgeryAt 3 months after surgeryAssessed with WOMAC osteoarthritis index (score ranges from 0 to 96, with higher score indicating more severe symptoms).

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain intensity within the first 3 days after surgeryThe first 3 days after surgeryPain intensity is assessed twice daily (8-10 am and 18-20 pm) with the numeric rating scale, an 11-point scale where 0=no pain and 10=the worst pain.
Subjective sleep quality within the first 3 days after surgeryThe first 3 days after surgerySubjective sleep quality is assessed with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), an 11 points scale where 0=the best sleep and 10=the worst sleep.

Countries

China

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026