Recruiting

Erector Spinae Plane Block

Sponsor:

Rush University Medical Center

Code:

NCT06745453

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Erector Spinae Plane Block

Sham Procedure

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an erector spinae plane block (ESPB; a type of nerve block) works to reduce pain in adults presenting to the emergency department with low back pain. It will also learn if the ESPB reduces pain, disability, and return to work at 7 days. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does the ESPB reduce short-term pain in participants with low back pain?
2. Does the ESPB reduce longer-term pain, reduce disability, and improve return to work and activities in participants with low back pain?

Researchers will compare ESPB to a placebo (an injection that does not involve a nerve block) to see if ESPB works to treat low back pain.

Participants will:

Receive either the ESPB or a placebo injection in the emergency department Report their pain scores for up to 120 minutes Report their pain, disability, and return to work at 7 days

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Study ID

NCT06745453

Start date

Feb 3, 2025

Status verified date

Mar, 2026

Completion date

Dec 31, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults (age ≥18 years) presenting to the emergency department with isolated low back pain present less than 6 total weeks.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Do not speak English or Spanish as a primary language
  • Are incarcerated
  • Have a known pregnancy
  • Are allergic to amide-type local anesthetics
  • Are unable to tolerate positioning for the procedure
  • Have a critical illness precluding the ability to perform the procedure.

Study Design

Enrollment

62 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Erector Spinae Plane Block

This group will receive the erector spinae plane block

sham comparator: Sham Procedure

This group will receive a sham injection.

Interventions

Erector Spinae Plane Block

Erector Spinae Plane Block

Sham Procedure

Sham Procedure

Primary outcome measure

  • Pain score at 120 minutes post-intervention as assessed using a 10-point numeric rating scale [ Time Frame: Change from baseline to 120 minutes post-intervention ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Aylin Ornelas Loredo, MMS

312-563-0645aylin_a_ornelasloredo@rush.edu

Michelle Santangelo, MS

312-563-0645michelle_santangelo@rush.edu

Locations

Rush University Medical Center

Recruiting

Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612

Contacts

Aylin Ornelas Loredo, MMS

312-563-0645aylin_a_ornelasloredo@rush.edu

Michelle Santangelo, MS

312-563-0645michelle_santangelo@rush.edu

Principal Investigator:

Michael Gottlieb, MD

More Information

Sponsor

Rush University Medical Center

Last update posted

Mar 12, 2026

Last verified

Mar, 2026

Keywords

  • erector spinae plane block
  • emergency department
  • low back pain
  • regional anesthesia
  • nerve block

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Rush University Medical Center on 2026-03-12.