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Condition (MeSH)

Pain

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 26,393 trials for Pain or a narrower condition beneath it. VA Office of Research and Development has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 126.

MeSH D010146 Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms C23
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Phase 1 Phase 1 885 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 243 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,491 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 309 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,674 Phase 4 Phase 4 2,617 Not applicable Not applicable 14,761 Observational Observational 4,399 Phase 1 Phase 1 885 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 243 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,491 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 309 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,674 Phase 4 Phase 4 2,617 Not applicable Not applicable 14,761 Observational Observational 4,399

Trials per phase (log scale)

2 more sections with rows

9,056 of the 26,393 trials are tagged with Pain itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

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The PDF carries up to 50 rows of each section, where the page shows the first few, with the sources listed. Enter a work email and confirm it from the message we send, and the report follows by email.

When did Pain trials start? (36)

Shown in this order: most recent first, 1990 onwards. 2026 is partial: trials registered with a 2026 start date so far, not a full year. 63 trials are registered to start in 2027 or later, and not listed here.

Trials over time, by phase

  • Phase 1
  • Phase 1/2
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 2/3
  • Phase 3
  • Phase 4
  • Not applicable
  • Observational
  • Other (Unknown)

Top of scale: 2,081

1991: 1 trials (Phase 3 1) 1992: 4 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 1) 1993: 4 trials (Phase 3 2, Phase 2 2) 1994: 8 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 4, Phase 3 1, Phase 1 1) 1995: 3 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 3 2) 1996: 13 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 3, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 4, Phase 2 2) 1997: 19 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 6, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 3) 1998: 22 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 2, Phase 3 6, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 8, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 1) 1999: 24 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 8, Phase 2 4) 2000: 47 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 10, Phase 2 8, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 4) 2001: 77 trials (Observational 15, Not applicable 18, Phase 4 8, Phase 3 17, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 14, Phase 1/2 1) 2002: 102 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 17, Phase 4 17, Phase 3 35, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 14, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 4) 2003: 163 trials (Observational 13, Not applicable 37, Phase 4 25, Phase 3 43, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 30, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 8) 2004: 238 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 61, Phase 4 40, Phase 3 53, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 44, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 16) 2005: 287 trials (Observational 41, Not applicable 66, Phase 4 44, Phase 3 66, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 42, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 15) 2006: 394 trials (Observational 55, Not applicable 101, Phase 4 56, Phase 3 94, Phase 2/3 12, Phase 2 58, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 15) 2007: 440 trials (Observational 58, Not applicable 113, Phase 4 73, Phase 3 78, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 68, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 34) 2008: 591 trials (Observational 97, Not applicable 159, Phase 4 104, Phase 3 99, Phase 2/3 18, Phase 2 56, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 47) 2009: 631 trials (Observational 102, Not applicable 197, Phase 4 100, Phase 3 79, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 94, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 36) 2010: 636 trials (Observational 114, Not applicable 226, Phase 4 113, Phase 3 67, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 55, Phase 1/2 18, Phase 1 36) 2011: 762 trials (Observational 115, Not applicable 292, Phase 4 130, Phase 3 100, Phase 2/3 17, Phase 2 62, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 35) 2012: 774 trials (Observational 143, Not applicable 296, Phase 4 121, Phase 3 77, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 86, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 36) 2013: 766 trials (Observational 120, Not applicable 332, Phase 4 117, Phase 3 70, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 75, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 30) 2014: 925 trials (Observational 159, Not applicable 425, Phase 4 155, Phase 3 55, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 68, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 42) 2015: 971 trials (Other 1, Observational 166, Not applicable 448, Phase 4 132, Phase 3 89, Phase 2/3 26, Phase 2 63, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 32) 2016: 1,066 trials (Other 2, Observational 175, Not applicable 573, Phase 4 140, Phase 3 69, Phase 2/3 12, Phase 2 58, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 27) 2017: 1,177 trials (Observational 203, Not applicable 637, Phase 4 139, Phase 3 63, Phase 2/3 14, Phase 2 63, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 47) 2018: 1,372 trials (Observational 277, Not applicable 799, Phase 4 129, Phase 3 55, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 59, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 36) 2019: 1,494 trials (Observational 247, Not applicable 917, Phase 4 149, Phase 3 56, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 58, Phase 1/2 16, Phase 1 42) 2020: 1,354 trials (Observational 249, Not applicable 830, Phase 4 111, Phase 3 51, Phase 2/3 16, Phase 2 50, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 37) 2021: 1,827 trials (Observational 323, Not applicable 1,166, Phase 4 136, Phase 3 62, Phase 2/3 23, Phase 2 63, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 45) 2022: 1,966 trials (Other 1, Observational 335, Not applicable 1,322, Phase 4 126, Phase 3 42, Phase 2/3 18, Phase 2 58, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 54) 2023: 2,002 trials (Observational 357, Not applicable 1,354, Phase 4 107, Phase 3 64, Phase 2/3 16, Phase 2 47, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 52) 2024: 2,081 trials (Observational 335, Not applicable 1,458, Phase 4 107, Phase 3 48, Phase 2/3 14, Phase 2 52, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 55) 2025: 2,074 trials (Other 1, Observational 310, Not applicable 1,515, Phase 4 92, Phase 3 30, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 58, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 48)

Trials registered with a start date in each year, 1990 onward, stacked by phase (complete years only; the current partial year is in the table's notes). The table below lists the same counts, most recent years first.

Trials started per year
Year Trials started
2026 (partial year) 1,896
2025 2,074
2024 2,081
2023 2,002
2022 1,966
2021 1,827
2020 1,354
2019 1,494
2018 1,372
2017 1,177

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 2,400 trials starting in 2026 and about 2,100 in 2027, the average of the 24 months through September, counted as registered and carried forward, with about 0.7 times the starts already registered for the rest of 2026 added. The rows of this table count trials registered so far with a start date in the year, planned starts included; the forecast looks ahead to the count for the whole year, so it is not the same measure. In backtests on conditions of this size, forecasts made part-way through the year were typically off by about 10 percent and ran about 4 percent high against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 25 percent and ran about 15 percent low against the count later registered, and had about 7 percent more error than repeating last year's count. The part-way figures are from forecasts that used a multiple fitted only on earlier years. A stricter check that trains only on older years did not support adding planned starts for conditions of this size: it ran about 6 percent high against the count later registered. These figures rest on a few years of history (target years from 2018 to 2025, varying by figure), place each condition as it is mapped today rather than as it was then, and score against a count for the newest year that was still being revised. Only condition series were scored.

Prediction, not a registry value: median of 31 months from start to primary completion across 2,128 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 13 months across 17,066 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Pain trials in? (10)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 885
Phase 1/2 243
Phase 2 1,491
Phase 2/3 309
Phase 3 1,674
Phase 4 2,617
Not applicable 14,761
Observational 4,399
Expanded access 9
Unknown 5

How many Pain trials are recruiting? (12)

Shown in this order: the order a trial moves through, from not yet recruiting to unknown.

Trials by recruitment status
Status Trials
Not yet recruiting 1,496
Recruiting 2,324
Enrolling by invitation 295
Active, not recruiting 604
Available 2

Status as registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Each trial is counted once.

Which lead sponsors run the most Pain trials? (2)

Shown in this order: most trials first. Lead sponsors the registry classes as industry, NIH, US federal, other government or network. A hospital or university the registry files as government can appear here. Sponsors it classes as academic or other are shown on the full page, because that class cannot separate an institution from a named investigator.

Lead sponsors
Sponsor Trials
VA Office of Research and Development 126
Pfizer 110

Which drugs are being tested for Pain? (6)

Shown in this order: most trials first. One row per drug, matched to a single molecule under all its names, ranked by number of trials.

Drugs tested
Drug Trials
+/- Bupivacaine HCl 463
PMI-150 (intranasal ketamine) 230
FENTANYL 216
Pregabalin 202
DEXMEDETOMIDINE 170

Interventions as named in the registry (9)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
A3: Acetaminophen (Tylenol caplets®, from Janssen-Cilag, S.A. de C.V.) 354
PO Morphine 308
L:Lidocaine 308
Ropivacaine 2 % 249
Dexamethasone/Dexamethasone acetate 211

These are the names sponsors entered on ClinicalTrials.gov that we have not matched to a single molecule. Some are drugs under a brand or code name; others are procedures, doses or arm labels.

Which serious adverse events do Pain trials report? (10)

Shown in this order: most subjects affected first. Subjects affected summed across trials, a cross-trial signal, not a rate.

Serious adverse events in this condition's trials
Adverse event Subjects affected Trials
Emergency Department visit within 90 days of index imaging 26,174 1
Pneumonia 1,748 189
Cardiac ischemia 729 1
Osteoarthritis 725 61
Angina pectoris 720 50

Which publications cover Pain? (11,756)

Shown in this order: major-topic papers first, then newest, then most linked to trials.

Sub-conditions in MeSH (28)

MeSH descendants one level down with at least one trial, most trials first.

+18 more sub-conditions

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

Checked, with nothing recorded for this condition: prevalence and rare-disease identity.

Browse all condition evidence pages