Perioperative Intravenous Nimodipine Trial

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF IOANNINA · Jun 30, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying whether giving a medicine called nimodipine through an IV during and around the time of bowel cancer surgery can help reduce the need for opioid painkillers and anesthetics, ease pain after surgery, lessen side effects related to opioids, and help the bowels start working again sooner. Nimodipine is a drug that can reach the brain and might have benefits during surgery, but its effects in this specific situation aren’t well understood yet. This study is being done with patients who are having open surgery to remove part of their bowel because of cancer.

To take part, patients need to be adults between 18 and 75 years old who are scheduled for this type of surgery at the General Hospital of Patra. People who have serious other health problems, allergies to nimodipine, or who already use opioids regularly, or who have had significant pain for more than half of the past month, won’t be able to join. If you participate, you will receive either nimodipine or a placebo through an IV during surgery without knowing which one you get, and the medical team will watch how much pain medicine you need, how much pain you feel, and how quickly your bowel starts working after surgery. This study is still recruiting patients, and it aims to find better ways to manage pain and recovery after bowel cancer surgery.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Patients scheduled for open surgical treatment of bowel cancer at the General Hospital of Patra
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Age \< 18 years, \> 75 years
• • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status \> III
• • Allergy to nimodipine
• • Inability to provide informed consent
• • Known severe renal insufficiency
• • Known severe bradyarrhythmia
• • Daily opioid consumption the last 7 days before surgery
• • Pain intensity assessed using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS; 0-10), with scores greater than 5 reported on more than half of the days during the past month.