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Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Epidural Depth in InfantsNCT07847762

Evaluation of Skin-to-Epidural Distance at Different Vertebral Levels by Ultrasonography in Infants: A Prospective Observational Study

An observational study of Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Epidural Depth in Infants, run by Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).

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

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the distance between the skin and the epidural space in infants younger than 12 months. The epidural space is an area near the spinal cord where doctors can give pain medicine to help control pain during and after surgery. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages Up to 1 year
What is being tested?
Ultrasonographic Assessment of Skin-to-Epidural Distance and Epidural Catheter Placement for Clinical Indications
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
How many people
100 participants
Where
1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
Study dates
1 Nov 2026to 1 Nov 2027
Phase
Observational
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 Up to 1 year
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child

Study population: Participants will be recruited from infants scheduled for elective surgical procedures at the operating rooms of the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa. The study population consists of infants undergoing routine perioperative evaluation under general anesthesia in a tertiary academic medical center.

Who may be able to join

  • Infants aged 0 to 12 months
  • Scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia
  • American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I to III
  • Written informed consent obtained from parents or legal guardians

Who cannot join

  • Known vertebral or spinal cord anomalies, including scoliosis or spina bifida
  • Previous spinal surgery
  • Neuromuscular disease or known spinal cord pathology
  • Congenital syndromes associated with systemic malformations
  • Severe pulmonary, cardiac, hemodynamic, or neurological instability
  • Emergency surgery
  • Unreliable or incomplete ultrasonographic measurement data due to technical difficulties
  • Absence of written informed consent from parents or legal guardians

Trial locations and contacts

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

Turkey (Türkiye)1 site
  • Istanbul University Cerrahpasa, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty

    Istanbul, 34098

    Bahar Inan, MD, +905387352525, bahar.inan@iuc.edu.tr

    Pınar Kendigelen, MD, Professor, +905325868734, pinar.kendigelen@iuc.edu.tr

Other trials in Turkey (Türkiye)

About this study

Official title: Evaluation of Skin-to-Epidural Distance With Ultrasonography at Different Vertebral Levels in Infants: A Prospective Observational Study

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the distance between the skin and the epidural space in infants younger than 12 months. The epidural space is an area near the spinal cord where doctors can give pain medicine to help control pain during and after surgery. Epidural pain treatment can greatly reduce the amount of pain a child feels after surgery. Researchers will use ultrasound, a method that uses sound waves to create images inside the body and does not have harmful effects on the body, to measure this distance in babies having planned surgery under general anesthesia. General anesthesia is a medicine that keeps patients asleep during surgery.

The main questions this study aims to answer are: Does the distance between the skin and the epidural space change with a baby's age, weight, height, or gestational age? Are the measurements similar when ultrasound images are taken from different directions? How close are the ultrasound measurements to the actual depth reached by the needle in babies who receive epidural pain treatment as part of their regular medical care?

Read more

Participants will have ultrasound images taken after they are asleep under general anesthesia. Measurements will be taken at 4 different areas of the lower back and from 2 different viewing directions. The measurements will be performed by 2 experienced doctors. Each doctor will repeat the same measurements 2 times to check consistency. Participants will receive epidural pain treatment only if it is already planned as part of their usual care.

No extra invasive procedure or additional medication will be given for this study.

Read the detailed description

Epidural analgesia is an effective method for perioperative pain management in pediatric patients and is widely used to reduce postoperative pain and opioid requirements. In infants, however, epidural procedures may be technically challenging because spinal anatomical structures are smaller and continue to change during early development. Variability in vertebral anatomy, ligament thickness, and spinal cord termination level may increase the difficulty of predicting epidural depth during neuraxial procedures. Even small differences in needle depth may be clinically important in this age group.

Ultrasonography has become an increasingly important tool in pediatric regional anesthesia because it provides real-time visualization of spinal anatomy without radiation exposure or harmful effects on the body. Preprocedural ultrasonographic assessment may help identify anatomical landmarks and estimate epidural depth before needle insertion. Previous studies have demonstrated that ultrasound measurements may correlate with actual epidural needle depth in pediatric patients. However, available data regarding normative skin-to-epidural distance measurements in infants remain limited, particularly at different vertebral levels and with different ultrasound imaging planes.

In infants, identification of the epidural space using conventional loss-of-resistance techniques may be more difficult than in older children and adults because tissue resistance changes may be less distinct. In addition, spinal anatomy changes rapidly during infancy, and measurements obtained at one vertebral level may not reflect measurements at other levels. Evaluation of multiple vertebral levels and imaging planes may therefore provide more comprehensive anatomical information for pediatric epidural procedures.

This study is designed to evaluate ultrasonographic skin-to-epidural distance measurements at multiple lumbar and thoracolumbar vertebral levels in infants undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia. Measurements will be obtained using two commonly used ultrasound imaging planes to better characterize epidural depth in this population. The study will also evaluate the relationship between ultrasonographic measurements and demographic characteristics such as age, body weight, height, and gestational age.

Ultrasonographic evaluations will be performed during routine perioperative preparation under general anesthesia without additional invasive intervention for study purposes. In participants who undergo epidural catheter placement as part of routine clinical management, ultrasonographic measurements will additionally be compared with clinically measured epidural needle depth. Findings from this study may contribute to the development of more reliable reference data for infant epidural procedures and may support safer and more individualized pediatric regional anesthesia practices.

Being tested
Ultrasonographic Assessment of Skin-to-Epidural Distance, Epidural Catheter Placement for Clinical Indications
Keywords
Infants, Epidural Distance, Pediatric Regional Anesthesia, Skin-to-Epidural Distance, Epidural Depth, Neuraxial Ultrasound

What participants receive

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

  • Ultrasonographic Assessment of Skin-to-Epidural DistanceDiagnostic test

    Infants aged 0 to 12 months undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia will undergo ultrasonographic assessment of the distance between the skin and the epidural space. Measurements will be performed in the lateral decubitus position using a high-frequency linear ultrasound transducer with minimal probe pressure to avoid soft tissue compression. The distance will be evaluated at the intervertebral levels between the twelfth thoracic vertebra and the first lumbar vertebra, the first and second lumbar vertebrae, the second and third lumbar vertebrae, and the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. Measurements will be obtained using both the paramedian sagittal oblique and transverse median ultrasound views. Two experienced anesthesiologists will independently perform the measurements. The probe will be removed and repositioned before repeat measurements. No needle insertion or epidural catheter placement will be performed as part of this intervention.

  • Epidural Catheter Placement for Clinical IndicationsProcedure or surgery

    A subgroup of infants requiring epidural analgesia as part of routine perioperative care will undergo epidural catheter placement. Epidural catheterization will not be performed for research purposes and will only be undertaken when clinically indicated. Following ultrasonographic assessment and induction of general anesthesia, infants will be positioned in the lateral decubitus position. Epidural catheter placement will be performed according to standard institutional practice. The epidural space will be identified using the loss-of-resistance technique at the vertebral level selected by the attending anesthesiologist, and the depth from the skin to the epidural space will be recorded. Catheter insertion, confirmation of placement, and analgesic management will follow routine clinical protocols. Data from these procedures will be used to compare actual epidural depth with ultrasonographic measurements. No additional invasive procedures will be performed for study purposes.

Study groups in NCT07847762
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Infants Ungergoing Elective SurgeryInfants aged 0-12 months undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia who will undergo ultrasonographic skin-to-epidural distance measurements during routine perioperative care.
Receives: Diagnostic Test: Ultrasonographic Assessment of Skin-to-Epidural Distance; Procedure: Epidural Catheter Placement for Clinical Indications

What is being measured

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

  1. Ultrasonographic Skin-to-Epidural Distance

    Distance between the skin and the epidural space measured by ultrasonography at the intervertebral levels between the twelfth thoracic vertebra and the first lumbar vertebra, between the first and second lumbar vertebrae, between the second and third lumbar vertebrae, and between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae in infants.

    Measured: During perioperative ultrasonographic assessment immediately after induction of general anesthesia

Secondary outcomes (3)
  1. Comparison of Parasagittal Oblique and Transverse Median Ultrasound Measurements

    Comparison of skin-to-epidural distance measurements obtained in the paramedian sagittal oblique and transverse median ultrasound planes.

    Measured: During perioperative ultrasonographic assessment immediately after induction of general anesthesia

  2. Intraobserver and Interobserver Measurement Reliability

    Assessment of consistency of repeated ultrasonographic skin-to-epidural distance measurements performed by experienced anesthesiologists.

    Measured: During perioperative ultrasonographic assessment immediately after induction of general anesthesia

  3. Agreement Between Ultrasonographic Measurements and Epidural Needle Depth

    Agreement between ultrasonographically measured skin-to-epidural distance and clinically measured epidural needle depth in participants undergoing epidural analgesia for routine clinical indications.

    Measured: During epidural analgesia procedure performed as part of routine perioperative care

Timeline

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

  1. First posted29 Sep 2026
  2. Study start1 Nov 2026 (estimated)
  3. Primary completion1 Oct 2027 (estimated)
  4. Study completion1 Nov 2027 (estimated)

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
100 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT07847762
Sponsor's protocol ID
1626310
Status last verified
Sep 2026
First submitted
23 Sep 2026
Last updated
29 Sep 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Sharapi M, Mahfouz A, Philip K, Mektebi A, Albakri K. Conventional anatomical landmark versus preprocedural ultrasound for thoracic epidural analgesia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Perioper Pract. 2024 Oct;34(10):315-325. doi: 10.1177/17504589231181974. Epub 2023 Sep 13.

    PubMed 37702201
  • Shaikh F, Brzezinski J, Alexander S, Arzola C, Carvalho JC, Beyene J, Sung L. Ultrasound imaging for lumbar punctures and epidural catheterisations: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2013 Mar 26;346:f1720. doi: 10.1136/bmj.f1720.

    PubMed 23532866
  • Perlas A, Chaparro LE, Chin KJ. Lumbar Neuraxial Ultrasound for Spinal and Epidural Anesthesia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2016 Mar-Apr;41(2):251-60. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000184.

    PubMed 25493689

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Epidural Depth in Infants, run by Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).

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 4 inclusion and 8 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 29 Sep 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 Turkey (Türkiye). 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 Bahar Inan, MD (+905387352525, bahar.inan@iuc.edu.tr), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Ultrasonographic Skin-to-Epidural Distance (time frame: During perioperative ultrasonographic assessment immediately after induction of general anesthesia). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07847762, which also lists 3 linked publications.

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 29 Sep 2026; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 8 Nov 2026.

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