Interscalene Block Versus Combined Infraclavicular-Anterior Suprascapular Blocks for Shoulder Surgery

NCT ID: NCT05444517

Last Updated: 2025-12-29

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

50 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-06-13

Study Completion Date

2025-11-28

Brief Summary

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Postoperative analgesia after shoulder surgery remains a challenge in patients with preexisting pulmonary pathology, as interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB), the standard nerve block for shoulder surgery, carries a prohibitive risk of hemidiaphragmatic paralysis (HDP). Although several diaphragm-sparing nerve blocks have been proposed, none seems to offer equivalent analgesia to ISB while avoiding HDP altogether. For instance, even costoclavicular blocks, which initially fulfilled both requirements, were subsequently found to result in a non-negligible 5%-incidence of HDP.

In this randomized trial, the authors set out to compare ISB and combined infraclavicular block-anterior suprascapular nerve blocks (ICB-ASSNB) for patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery. The authors hypothesized that ICB-ASSNB would provide equivalent postoperative analgesia to ISB 30 minutes after shoulder surgery and therefore designed the current study as an equivalence trial.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Pain, Postoperative Shoulder Pain Surgical Procedure, Unspecified Diaphragmatic Paralysis

Keywords

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Postoperative Shoulder Analgesia Diaphragmatic Paralysis Alternative Blocks

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Interscalene Block

Patients randomized to receive an interscalene block.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Interscalene Block

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block injecting 20 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml in the Interscalene groove.

Patients will receive dexamethasone 4 mg intravenously and an ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block (5 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml).

Infraclavicular-Anterior Supraescapular Nerve Blocks

Patients randomized to receive a combined infraclavicular plus anterior suprascapular nerve blocks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Infraclavicular - Anterior Supraescapular Nerve Blocks

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Ultrasound-guided combined infraclavicular-anterior suprascapular block of the brachial plexus, injecting 20 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml dorsal to the axillary artery in the infraclavicular fossa plus an ultrasound-guided injection of 3 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml under the omohyoid muscle. If the anterior suprascapular nerve could not be identified after five minutes of insonation time, an upper trunk block will be carried out with the same amount of local anesthetic.

Patients will receive dexamethasone 4 mg intravenously and an ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block (5 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml).

Interventions

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Interscalene Block

Ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block injecting 20 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml in the Interscalene groove.

Patients will receive dexamethasone 4 mg intravenously and an ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block (5 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml).

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Infraclavicular - Anterior Supraescapular Nerve Blocks

Ultrasound-guided combined infraclavicular-anterior suprascapular block of the brachial plexus, injecting 20 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml dorsal to the axillary artery in the infraclavicular fossa plus an ultrasound-guided injection of 3 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml under the omohyoid muscle. If the anterior suprascapular nerve could not be identified after five minutes of insonation time, an upper trunk block will be carried out with the same amount of local anesthetic.

Patients will receive dexamethasone 4 mg intravenously and an ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block (5 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% plus epinephrine 5 micrograms per ml).

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Other Intervention Names

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Peripheral Nerve Block Peripheral Nerve Block

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery
* American Society of Anesthesiologists classification 1-3
* Body mass index between 20 and 35 kg/mt2

Exclusion Criteria

* Adults who are unable to give their own consent
* Pre-existing neuropathy (assessed by history and physical examination)
* Coagulopathy (assessed by history and physical examination and, if deemed clinically necessary, by blood work up i.e. platelets ≤ 100, International Normalized Ratio ≥ 1.4 or prothrombin time ≥ 50)
* Obstructive or restrictive pulmonary disease (assessed by history and physical examination)
* Renal failure (assessed by history and physical examination and, if deemed clinically necessary, by blood work up i.e. creatinine ≥ 100)
* Hepatic failure (assessed by history and physical examination and, if deemed clinically necessary, by blood work up i.e. transaminases ≥ 100)
* Allergy to local anesthetics (LAs)
* Pregnancy
* Prior surgery in the neck or infraclavicular region
* Chronic pain syndromes requiring opioid intake at home
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

80 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Chile

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Julian Aliste

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Julián Aliste, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Chile

Locations

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Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile

Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile

Site Status

Countries

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Chile

References

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Tran DQ, Elgueta MF, Aliste J, Finlayson RJ. Diaphragm-Sparing Nerve Blocks for Shoulder Surgery. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2017 Jan/Feb;42(1):32-38. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000529.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27941477 (View on PubMed)

Tran DQ, Layera S, Bravo D, Cristi-Sanchez I, Bermudez L, Aliste J. Diaphragm-sparing nerve blocks for shoulder surgery, revisited. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2019 Sep 20:rapm-2019-100908. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2019-100908. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31541010 (View on PubMed)

Aliste J, Bravo D, Layera S, Fernandez D, Jara A, Maccioni C, Infante C, Finlayson RJ, Tran DQ. Randomized comparison between interscalene and costoclavicular blocks for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2019 Jan 11:rapm-2018-100055. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2018-100055. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30635497 (View on PubMed)

Sivashanmugam T, Maurya I, Kumar N, Karmakar MK. Ipsilateral hemidiaphragmatic paresis after a supraclavicular and costoclavicular brachial plexus block: A randomised observer blinded study. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2019 Oct;36(10):787-795. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000001069.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31397702 (View on PubMed)

Martinez J, Sala-Blanch X, Ramos I, Gomar C. Combined infraclavicular plexus block with suprascapular nerve block for humeral head surgery in a patient with respiratory failure: an alternative approach. Anesthesiology. 2003 Mar;98(3):784-5. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200303000-00031. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 12606927 (View on PubMed)

Aliste J, Bravo D, Finlayson RJ, Tran DQ. A randomized comparison between interscalene and combined infraclavicular-suprascapular blocks for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Can J Anaesth. 2018 Mar;65(3):280-287. doi: 10.1007/s12630-017-1048-0. Epub 2017 Dec 19.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29270914 (View on PubMed)

Vorster W, Lange CP, Briet RJ, Labuschagne BC, du Toit DF, Muller CJ, de Beer JF. The sensory branch distribution of the suprascapular nerve: an anatomic study. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2008 May-Jun;17(3):500-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2007.10.008. Epub 2008 Feb 11.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18262803 (View on PubMed)

Ebraheim NA, Whitehead JL, Alla SR, Moral MZ, Castillo S, McCollough AL, Yeasting RA, Liu J. The suprascapular nerve and its articular branch to the acromioclavicular joint: an anatomic study. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2011 Mar;20(2):e13-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2010.09.004. Epub 2010 Dec 30.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21194975 (View on PubMed)

Musso D, Flohr-Madsen S, Meknas K, Wilsgaard T, Ytrebo LM, Klaastad O. A novel combination of peripheral nerve blocks for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2017 Oct;61(9):1192-1202. doi: 10.1111/aas.12948. Epub 2017 Aug 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28776638 (View on PubMed)

Tran DQ, Dugani S, Finlayson RJ. A randomized comparison between ultrasound-guided and landmark-based superficial cervical plexus block. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2010 Nov-Dec;35(6):539-43. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0b013e3181faa11c.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20975470 (View on PubMed)

Aliste J, Bravo D, Fernandez D, Layera S, Finlayson RJ, Tran DQ. A Randomized Comparison Between Interscalene and Small-Volume Supraclavicular Blocks for Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Aug;43(6):590-595. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000767.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29630033 (View on PubMed)

Spence BC, Beach ML, Gallagher JD, Sites BD. Ultrasound-guided interscalene blocks: understanding where to inject the local anaesthetic. Anaesthesia. 2011 Jun;66(6):509-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2011.06712.x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21568985 (View on PubMed)

Franco CD, Williams JM. Ultrasound-Guided Interscalene Block: Reevaluation of the "Stoplight" Sign and Clinical Implications. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2016 Jul-Aug;41(4):452-9. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000407.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27203394 (View on PubMed)

Tran DQ, Bertini P, Zaouter C, Munoz L, Finlayson RJ. A prospective, randomized comparison between single- and double-injection ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus block. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;35(1):16-21. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0b013e3181c7717c.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20048654 (View on PubMed)

Maikong N, Kantakam P, Sinthubua A, Mahakkanukrauh P, Tran Q, Leurcharusmee P. Cadaveric study investigating the phrenic-sparing volume for anterior suprascapular nerve block. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2021 Sep;46(9):769-772. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2021-102803. Epub 2021 Jun 3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34083356 (View on PubMed)

Aguirre O, Tobos L, Reina MA, Sala-Blanch X. Upper trunk block: description of a supraclavicular approach of upper trunk at the points of its division. Br J Anaesth. 2016 Dec;117(6):823-824. doi: 10.1093/bja/aew366. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Aliste J, Cristi-Sanchez I, Bermudez L, Layera S, Bravo D, Tran Q. Assessing surgical anesthesia for shoulder surgery. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2020 Aug;45(8):675-676. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2019-100981. Epub 2019 Dec 31. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31892544 (View on PubMed)

Lloyd T, Tang YM, Benson MD, King S. Diaphragmatic paralysis: the use of M mode ultrasound for diagnosis in adults. Spinal Cord. 2006 Aug;44(8):505-8. doi: 10.1038/sj.sc.3101889. Epub 2005 Dec 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16331304 (View on PubMed)

Tashjian RZ, Deloach J, Porucznik CA, Powell AP. Minimal clinically important differences (MCID) and patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) for visual analog scales (VAS) measuring pain in patients treated for rotator cuff disease. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2009 Nov-Dec;18(6):927-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2009.03.021. Epub 2009 Jun 16.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19535272 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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OAIC 1248/22

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id