AnalgesiaNCT07784426
Tourniquet Pain Prevention During Distal Upper Limb Surgery
A study testing Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block and Serratus anterior plane block in people with Analgesia, run by Zagazig University.
Trial summary
Post-tourniquet pain remains a common problem. It disturbs the quality of anesthesia during brachial plexus block for distal upper-limb surgery. Current evidence shows that adding an intercostobrachial nerve block using the landmark-based technique can improve analgesia for medial upper-arm procedures. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 to 64 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Analgesia
- What is being tested?
- Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block and Serratus anterior plane block
- Type of treatment
- Surgery or procedure
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 90 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- Sep 2026to Mar 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 to 64 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- Elective unilateral distal upper-limb surgery (hand, wrist or forearm) with use of pneumatic upper-arm tourniquets under ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block.
Who cannot join
- Coagulopathy or therapeutic anticoagulation.
- Local infection at injection sites.
- Chronic opioid dependence.
Trial locations and contacts
No sites are listed yet. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan contact
About this study
Official title: Brachial Plexus With Intercostobrachial Nerve or Serratus Anterior Plane Block for Tourniquet Pain Prevention During Distal Upper-Limb Surgery
Post-tourniquet pain remains a common problem. It disturbs the quality of anesthesia during brachial plexus block for distal upper-limb surgery. Current evidence shows that adding an intercostobrachial nerve block using the landmark-based technique can improve analgesia for medial upper-arm procedures.
Read the detailed description
Post-tourniquet pain remains a common problem. It disturbs the quality of anesthesia during brachial plexus block for distal upper-limb surgery. Current evidence shows that adding an intercostobrachial nerve block using the landmark-based technique can improve analgesia for medial upper-arm procedures. The serratus anterior plane block has also been proposed as an adjunct that may cover the intercostobrachial nerve territory. However, the landmark intercostobrachial nerve technique relies on a blind injection and may give inconsistent results. Moreover, high-quality head-to-head data comparing ultrasound-guided intercostobrachial nerve block with serratus anterior plane block for tourniquet pain prevention are lacking.
- Conditions
- Analgesia
- Being tested
- Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block, Serratus anterior plane block
- Medical subject headings
- Agnosia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve blockProcedure or surgery
The patient will be positioned supine with the ipsilateral arm abducted. The ultrasound transducer will be positioned in the axilla along the mid-axillary line to visualize the thoracodorsal artery and vein and the fascia between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. The Intercostobrachial nerve often appears as a small hyperechoic structure lateral to the thoracodorsal vessels.
Serratus anterior plane blockProcedure or surgery
The ultrasound transducer will be placed at the mid-axillary line at the level of the fourth or fifth rib to identify and inject a local anaesthetic drug in the plane between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block | Active comparator | After a brachial plexus block, participants will receive a selective Intercostobrachial nerve block. The patient will be positioned supine with the ipsilateral arm abducted. The ultrasound transducer will be positioned in the axilla along the mid-axillary line to visualize the thoracodorsal artery and vein and the fascia between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. Receives: Procedure: Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block |
| Serratus anterior plane block | Active comparator | The patient will be positioned supine with the ipsilateral arm abducted slightly. Under aseptic conditions, the ultrasound transducer will be placed at the mid-axillary line at the level of the fourth or fifth rib to identify the plane between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. Receives: Procedure: Serratus anterior plane block |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Tourniquet pain degree
The visual analogue score of tourniquet pain at the end of first 60 minutes of tourniquet inflation with score 10 indicates worst pain and score 0 indicates no pain.
Measured: The first 60 minutes of tourniquet inflation.
Secondary outcomes (1)
Duration of tourniquet application.
The time from tourniquet inflation to tourniquet deflation.
Measured: The first 2 hours intraoperative.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted25 Aug 2026
- Study startSep 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionFeb 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionMar 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for AnalgesiaStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Zagazig UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 90 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Zagazig University
- Sponsor type
- Other government
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Amal Abdelazim Salah, MD, Study director, Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care & Pain Management, Zagazig UniversityOsama Abo Elfotouh Ismael Hassan, MD, Study chair, Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care & Pain Management, Zagazig University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07784426
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- Tourniquet Pain Management
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 21 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 27 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 27 Aug 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Brachial Plexus With Intercostobrachial Nerve or Serratus Anterior Plane Block for Tourniquet Pain Prevention During Distal Upper-Limb Surgery
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07784426
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- Tourniquet Pain Management
- Conditions
- Analgesia
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 90 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Zagazig UniversityOther government
- Study start
- Sep 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Feb 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Mar 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 25 Aug 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Post-tourniquet pain remains a common problem. It disturbs the quality of anesthesia during brachial plexus block for distal upper-limb surgery. Current evidence shows that adding an intercostobrachial nerve block using the landmark-based technique can improve analgesia for medial upper-arm procedures.
Detailed description
Post-tourniquet pain remains a common problem. It disturbs the quality of anesthesia during brachial plexus block for distal upper-limb surgery. Current evidence shows that adding an intercostobrachial nerve block using the landmark-based technique can improve analgesia for medial upper-arm procedures. The serratus anterior plane block has also been proposed as an adjunct that may cover the intercostobrachial nerve territory. However, the landmark intercostobrachial nerve technique relies on a blind injection and may give inconsistent results. Moreover, high-quality head-to-head data comparing ultrasound-guided intercostobrachial nerve block with serratus anterior plane block for tourniquet pain prevention are lacking.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block | Active comparator | Procedure: Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve blockAfter a brachial plexus block, participants will receive a selective Intercostobrachial nerve block. The patient will be positioned supine with the ipsilateral arm abducted. The ultrasound transducer will be positioned in the axilla along the mid-axillary line to visualize the thoracodorsal artery and vein and the fascia between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. |
| Serratus anterior plane block | Active comparator | Procedure: Serratus anterior plane blockThe patient will be positioned supine with the ipsilateral arm abducted slightly. Under aseptic conditions, the ultrasound transducer will be placed at the mid-axillary line at the level of the fourth or fifth rib to identify the plane between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 21 to 64 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Elective unilateral distal upper-limb surgery (hand, wrist or forearm) with use of pneumatic upper-arm tourniquets under ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block.
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Coagulopathy or therapeutic anticoagulation.
- Local infection at injection sites.
- Chronic opioid dependence.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve blockThe patient will be positioned supine with the ipsilateral arm abducted. The ultrasound transducer will be positioned in the axilla along the mid-axillary line to visualize the thoracodorsal artery and vein and the fascia between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. The Intercostobrachial nerve often appears as a small hyperechoic structure lateral to the thoracodorsal vessels. | Procedure or surgery | Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block |
| Serratus anterior plane blockThe ultrasound transducer will be placed at the mid-axillary line at the level of the fourth or fifth rib to identify and inject a local anaesthetic drug in the plane between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles. | Procedure or surgery | Serratus anterior plane block |
Primary outcome
Tourniquet pain degree
Time frame: The first 60 minutes of tourniquet inflation.
The visual analogue score of tourniquet pain at the end of first 60 minutes of tourniquet inflation with score 10 indicates worst pain and score 0 indicates no pain.
1 secondary outcome
Duration of tourniquet application.
Time frame: The first 2 hours intraoperative.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 27 Aug 2026.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan contact
Amal Abdelazim Salah, MD study director
Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care & Pain Management, Zagazig University
Osama Abo Elfotouh Ismael Hassan, MD study chair
Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care & Pain Management, Zagazig University
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Selective ultrasound guided Intercostobrachial nerve block and Serratus anterior plane block in people with Analgesia, run by Zagazig University.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Mohamed Mohamed, MD (203350873 ext. 01, mgmelsayed@medicine.zu.edu.eg), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Tourniquet pain degree (time frame: The first 60 minutes of tourniquet inflation.). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Aug 2026.