Effective Dose and Safety of Esketamine During Ultrasound-guided Hepatic Tumor Thermal Ablation

Effective pain management during percutaneous thermal ablation of liver tumors outside the operating room remains a significant challenge. While hepatic hilar nerve block (HHNB) provides partial analgesia, its incomplete efficacy often requires opioid supplementation, potentially increasing perioperative risks. Esketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, exhibits unique dual analgesic-sedative properties that may address this therapeutic gap, thus obviating the necessity for opioids. This prospective dose-finding study aimed to establish the median effective dose (ED50) and 95% effective dose (ED95) of esketamine for opioid-free analgesia during ultrasound-guided thermal ablation of liver tumors under HHNB. Afterwards, the investigators will conduct an RCT study to evaluate the safety of the dose of esketamine ED95 through the incidence of respiratory depression.

NCT Number	NCT07034950
Lead Sponsor	The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University
Conditions	Hepatic Neoplasm, Hepatic Cancer
Enrollment	79 participants
Start Date	2025-06-29
Primary Completion	2028-06-30 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-06-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-09-11