Optimizing Patient-centred Outcomes Using Opioid Minimization Strategies: The OPUS Anesthesia Pilot Trial
Optimizing Patient-centred Outcomes Using Opioid Minimization Strategies (OPUS) Anesthesia: a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval
100 participants
Jul 15, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
Up to 40% of patients experience suboptimal recovery in the days following major surgery, limiting their return to functional independence. Few preventive interventions exist, but intravenous dexmedetomidine and lidocaine administered during general anesthesia represent simple strategies that may significantly impact recovery and other patient-centred outcomes after surgery. The goal of this pilot trial is to determine the feasibility of conducting a phase 3 pragmatic adaptive multicentre trial to evaluate the impact of dexmedetomidine and lidocaine administered during major non-cardiac surgery on patient-centred outcomes.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria4
- Adults \>/= 18 years.
- Having elective major non-cardiac surgery (i.e., planned duration \>/= 1.5 hours and anticipated \>/= 1 night hospital stay).
- Requiring general anesthesia.
- Able to complete baseline quality of recovery assessment.
Exclusion Criteria6
- Individuals with known contraindications to dexmedetomidine or lidocaine (e.g., allergy to alpha-2 agonists or local anesthetics, severe renal or hepatic failure, bradycardia or hypotension), as per routine assessment.
- Regular use of alpha-2 agonists or local anesthetics prior to hospitalization.
- Pregnant women.
- Planned use of regional analgesia (i.e., epidural, peripheral nerve block, trunk nerve block) in conjunction with general anesthesia. Local anesthetics such as lidocaine are administered as part of regional analgesia technique. Combination with intravenous lidocaine is contraindicated to avoid exceeding therapeutic concentration.
- Planned postoperative intubation after PACU discharge.
- No fixed address.
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Interventions
Intravenous bolus: between 0.2 and 0.5 mcg/kg. followed by Intravenous infusion: ranging from 0.2 to 0.7 mcg/kg/h to the discretion of the attending anesthesiologist. Bolus will be initiated prior to surgical incision and infusion will be stopped at wound closure.
Intravenous bolus: between 0.5 and 1.5 mg/kg. followed by Intravenous infusion: ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 mg/kg/h to the discretion of the attending anesthesiologist. Bolus will be initiated prior to surgical incision and infusion will be stopped at wound closure.
Usual care where systemic dexmedetomidine is not allowed and systemic lidocaine is permitted only for the prevention or treatment of propofol injection pain.
Locations(1)
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NCT06884540