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CoughNCT07778953

90% Effective Infusion Time of Sufentanil to Prevent Induction Cough: A Biased Coin Sequential Study

A study testing Sufentanil Citrate in people with Cough, run by Shiyou Wei at 1 site in China.

Not yet recruiting

Opening soon. The study is approved but enrolment has not started yet. Sites may already take enquiries.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

This single-center, prospective biased coin up-and-down sequential study aims to determine the 90% effective infusion time (ET90) of sufentanil to prevent sufentanil-induced cough (SIC) during the induction phase of general anesthesia in adults undergoing endotracheal intubation. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 99 years
Conditions the study is for
Cough
What is being tested?
Sufentanil Citrate
Type of treatment
Injection or infusion
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
120 participants
Where
1 siteChina
Study dates
1 Nov 2026to 30 Dec 2026
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 99 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I-III
  • Aged ≥18 ears old
  • Scheduled for elective surgery requiring general anesthesia with tracheal intubation

Who cannot join

  • Resting vital signs upon operating-room arrival: systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg, or diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mmHg, or heart rate ≥110 beats per minute.
  • Anticipated difficult airway, requirement for rapid-sequence induction, or emergency surgery.
  • Chronic cough, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis, active pulmonary disease, or upper respiratory tract infection within the preceding 2 weeks.
  • Regular opioid use for more than 2 weeks within 6 months before surgery; or recent use of antitussive agents or other medications that may alter the cough reflex.
  • Known history of allergy to study drug (sufentanil citrate).
  • Pregnancy, lactation, psychiatric disorders, or individuals unable to communicate appropriately.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

China1 site
  • Shaoyang University Affiliated First Hospital

    Shaoyang, Hunan, 422000

    Yadan Liu, 18229421255, lyd26897@163.com

Other trials in China

About this study

Official title: Determination of the 90% Effective Infusion Time of Sufentanil to Prevent Sufentanil-Induced Cough During General Anesthesia Induction in Young and Elderly Patients: A Biased Coin Design Up-and-Down Sequential Study

This single-center, prospective biased coin up-and-down sequential study aims to determine the 90% effective infusion time (ET90) of sufentanil to prevent sufentanil-induced cough (SIC) during the induction phase of general anesthesia in adults undergoing endotracheal intubation. Two age cohorts are studied separately: younger adults (<65 years) and older adults (≥65 years). The trial does not test superiority or between-group differences as the primary objective.

All participants receive sufentanil via a peripheral intravenous pump. The total sufentanil dose is fixed within each age cohort (young: 0.40 μg/kg; elderly: 0.30 μg/kg), while the pump injection time is adjusted using the biased coin up-and-down allocation method. SIC success is defined as no audible cough within a prespecified observation window from the start of the infusion until 2 minutes after infusion ends.

The primary outcome is the ET90 of sufentanil and its 95% confidence interval for each age cohort, estimated using centered isotonic regression with bootstrap confidence intervals. Approximately 120 patients will be screened to obtain at least 54 evaluable participants per cohort.

Read the detailed description

This is a single-center, prospective sequential study using a biased coin up-and-down allocation approach to determine the 90% effective infusion time (ET90) of sufentanil during the induction phase of general anesthesia to prevent sufentanil-induced cough (SIC). The study evaluates two age groups separately: younger adults (<65 years) and older adults (≥65 years).

Sufentanil will be administered intravenously via a infusion pump. Within each age cohort, the total sufentanil dose is predetermined, while the infusion time (rate) is adjusted based on the previous participant's outcome according to the biased coin up-and-down rule.

The primary success criterion is the absence of SIC during a prespecified observation period that starts at sufentanil infusion initiation and ends shortly after infusion completion during the induction phase. The primary outcome is the ET90, estimated for each age cohort with an appropriate statistical model using the observed infusion times and SIC outcomes.

Participants are screened before surgery based on age and general anesthesia requirements, and key comorbidities and contraindications are considered to reduce confounding. Safety is monitored throughout the induction phase and perioperative period, with attention to potential adverse events including hemodynamic instability and respiratory depression.

Approximately 120 patients are planned for enrollment to obtain sufficient evaluable participants in each cohort for ET90 estimation.

Conditions
Cough
Being tested
Sufentanil Citrate
Keywords
sufentanil-induced cough, general anesthesia induction, endotracheal intubation, infusion time
Medical subject headings
Cough

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Sufentanil CitrateDrug

    Sufentanil citrate administered via peripheral intravenous syringe pump during general anesthesia induction. Fixed weight-based total dose within each age sub-cohort; infusion time varies according to biased-coin up-and-down sequential rules.

Study groups in NCT07778953
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Single Interventional ArmExperimentalAll enrolled participants receive sufentanil citrate injection, infused via peripheral intravenous syringe pump during general anesthesia induction. Two independent age-defined sequential sub-cohorts are included within this single arm: 1. Younger adult sub-cohort (<65 years): fixed sufentanil total dose 0.40 μg/kg actual body weight. 2. Older adult sub-cohort (≥65 years): fixed sufentanil total dose 0.30 μg/kg actual body weight. Within each sub-cohort, the sufentanil infusion time is adjusted sequentially by biased-coin up-and-down rule according to the previous participant's sufentanil-induced cough (SIC) outcome. No other prophylactic anti-cough medications are given during the SIC observation window. After completion of the observation period, standard general anesthesia induction will be performed according to institutional routine.
Receives: Drug: Sufentanil Citrate

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. 90% effective infusion time (ET90) of sufentanil for preventing sufentanil-induced cough (SIC)

    ET90 is defined as the shortest sufentanil infusion time achieving no SIC in 90% of participants, estimated separately for younger adults (<65 years) and older adults (≥65 years) using centered isotonic regression with bootstrap 95% confidence intervals. SIC is defined as any audible cough within the predefined observation window.

    Measured: From start of sufentanil infusion until 2 minutes after the end of sufentanil infusion (anesthesia induction period)

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Incidence and severity of sufentanil-induced cough (SIC)

    SIC severity graded: mild (1-2 coughs), moderate (3-4 coughs), severe (≥5 coughs). Count of cough episodes and SIC incidence at each infusion-time level, reported separately for two age sub-cohorts.

    Measured: From start of sufentanil infusion until 2 minutes after the end of sufentanil infusion (anesthesia induction period)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted21 Aug 2026
  2. Study start1 Nov 2026 (estimated)
  3. Primary completion25 Dec 2026 (estimated)
  4. Study completion30 Dec 2026 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Sequential
Model description
This is a biased-coin up-and-down sequential design study. Two independent sequential cohorts are enrolled separately: younger adults (\<65 years) and older adults (≥65 years). Within each cohort, infusion time is adjusted sequentially according to the prior participant's SIC outcome. No separate control arm is included.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
120 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT07778953
Sponsor's protocol ID
Shaoyang-002
Status last verified
Aug 2026
First submitted
19 Aug 2026
Last updated
21 Aug 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Sufentanil Citrate in people with Cough, run by Shiyou Wei at 1 site in China.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in China. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Shiyou Wei, Doc (15601680288, lovewishyou@tongji.edu.cn), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

90% effective infusion time (ET90) of sufentanil for preventing sufentanil-induced cough (SIC) (time frame: From start of sufentanil infusion until 2 minutes after the end of sufentanil infusion (anesthesia induction period)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Aug 2026.

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