Effectiveness of Clonidine, Dexmedetomidine, and Fentanyl Adjuncts for Labor Epidural Analgesia

NCT ID: NCT05487196

Last Updated: 2025-04-27

Study Results

Results available

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

88 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-09-28

Study Completion Date

2023-07-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to compare the effectiveness of epidural clonidine, dexmedetomidine, or fentanyl adjuncts for labor analgesia.

Detailed Description

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Adjuncts for epidural labor analgesia have remained unchanged for decades, whereas changes in patient population and the opioid epidemic have created an increased demand for non-opioid alternative adjuncts to limit peripartum opioid exposure. This study aims to identify effective alternative and non-opioid adjunctive agents for epidural labor analgesia.

The opioid crisis in the United States has translated to an increasing number of pregnant women requiring care for labor and delivery. These trends have resulted in new questions about alternative epidural analgesia adjuncts besides lipophilic opioids (e.g., fentanyl and sufentanil) because: 1) many people with opioid or substance use disorder desire to avoid opioids in all formulations and routes of administration; and 2) epidural fentanyl or sufentanil administration for labor can potentially interfere with the accuracy of urine drug screening in the postpartum period, which has implications for postpartum social services considerations.

Some existing literature suggests that dexmedetomidine and clonidine are viable adjuncts to local anesthetics that offer a faster onset and a better quality of analgesia for patients requiring labor analgesia. However, the relative effectiveness of these adjunctive agents for labor analgesia have not been compared head-to-head. Better data on how these adjuncts compare with each other for labor analgesia efficacy, can result in more informed clinical care strategies.

This trial was initially initiated as a superiority design. After further scientific input, it was decided that a non-inferiority design would be more informative for the clinical question at hand. The hypothesis is that clonidine (Group C) and dexmedetomidine (Group D) are non-inferior to fentanyl (Group F) (usual care) as adjuncts for epidural labor analgesia. The null hypothesis is that clonidine and dexmedetomidine are inferior to fentanyl as adjuncts for epidural labor analgesia. Clinical Protocol specific methodology did not change throughout the trial and the full trial protocol document can be found in the relevant section below. An updated statistical analysis plan includes updated sample size calculations and has been reported to account for the noninferiority analysis plan. No data was analyzed prior to the completion of all data collection procedures.

Conditions

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Pregnancy Related

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

This study is designed as a randomized, quadruple blinded, parallel arm, controlled, non-inferiority trial in 3 groups allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Clonidine

Bolus dose at epidural initiation, through the epidural catheter:

10 ml Ropivacaine 0.1 % combined with a single dose of Clonidine 60 mcg

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Clonidine

Intervention Type DRUG

Clonidine belongs to the drug classification of antihypertensives

Ropivacaine

Intervention Type DRUG

Ropivacaine belongs to the drug classification of local or regional anesthesia for surgery and is used as standard of care

Dexmedetomidine

Bolus dose at epidural initiation, through the epidural catheter:

10 ml Ropivacaine 0.1 % combined with a single dose of Dexmedetomidine 30 mcg

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Dexmedetomidine

Intervention Type DRUG

Dexmedetomidine belongs to the drug classification of sedatives

Ropivacaine

Intervention Type DRUG

Ropivacaine belongs to the drug classification of local or regional anesthesia for surgery and is used as standard of care

Ropivacaine + Fentanyl

Bolus dose at epidural initiation, through the epidural catheter:

10 ml Ropivacaine 0.1 % combined with a single dose of Fentanyl 100mcg

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Fentanyl

Intervention Type DRUG

Fentanyl belongs to the drug classification of analgesic opioid agonists and is used as the standard of care

Ropivacaine

Intervention Type DRUG

Ropivacaine belongs to the drug classification of local or regional anesthesia for surgery and is used as standard of care

Interventions

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Clonidine

Clonidine belongs to the drug classification of antihypertensives

Intervention Type DRUG

Dexmedetomidine

Dexmedetomidine belongs to the drug classification of sedatives

Intervention Type DRUG

Fentanyl

Fentanyl belongs to the drug classification of analgesic opioid agonists and is used as the standard of care

Intervention Type DRUG

Ropivacaine

Ropivacaine belongs to the drug classification of local or regional anesthesia for surgery and is used as standard of care

Intervention Type DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Pregnant women greater than 18 years of age
* American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status 2 or 3
* Term pregnancy (greater than 37 gestational weeks)
* Planning epidural labor analgesia
* Singleton pregnancy
* Vertex presentation
* Planned vaginal delivery

Exclusion Criteria

* Pre-eclampsia with or without severe features
* New initiation of antihypertensive agent within 24 hours prior to enrollment
* Uncontrolled systemic comorbidities \[i.e., diabetes, hepatic, renal or cardiac\]
* Known or suspected fetal abnormalities
* Allergy to study agents
* Contra-indication to neuraxial anesthesia
* Inability to communicate or participate in study procedures
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Grace Lim, MD, MS

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Grace Lim, MD, MS

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Grace Lim, MD, MS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Pittsburgh

Locations

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UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Other Identifiers

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STUDY22030095

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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