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Condition (MeSH)

Postoperative Pain

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 5,530 trials for Postoperative Pain or a narrower condition beneath it.

MeSH D010149 Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms C23
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Phase 1 Phase 1 139 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 37 Phase 2 Phase 2 268 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 96 Phase 3 Phase 3 352 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,042 Not applicable Not applicable 2,897 Observational Observational 697 Phase 1 Phase 1 139 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 37 Phase 2 Phase 2 268 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 96 Phase 3 Phase 3 352 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,042 Not applicable Not applicable 2,897 Observational Observational 697

Trials per phase (log scale)

1 more section with rows

5,376 of the 5,530 trials are tagged with Postoperative Pain itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Postoperative Pain report as a PDF

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 Postoperative Pain trials start? (30)

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. 11 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: 484

1996: 2 trials (Phase 4 1, Phase 2 1) 1997: 1 trials (Phase 2 1) 1998: 1 trials (Phase 1 1) 1999: 3 trials (Phase 4 1, Phase 3 2) 2001: 7 trials (Not applicable 3, Phase 4 2, Phase 2 2) 2002: 10 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 1, Phase 1 1) 2003: 15 trials (Not applicable 4, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 2) 2004: 21 trials (Not applicable 4, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 3) 2005: 36 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 13, Phase 4 8, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 6) 2006: 43 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 10, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 8, Phase 1 1) 2007: 59 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 13, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 7, Phase 1 4) 2008: 87 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 17, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 2) 2009: 101 trials (Observational 13, Not applicable 24, Phase 4 36, Phase 3 12, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 13, Phase 1 2) 2010: 99 trials (Observational 18, Not applicable 28, Phase 4 33, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 3, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 2) 2011: 124 trials (Observational 15, Not applicable 49, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 8, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 1) 2012: 117 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 32, Phase 4 39, Phase 3 13, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 6) 2013: 111 trials (Observational 9, Not applicable 35, Phase 4 41, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 11, Phase 1 1) 2014: 152 trials (Observational 18, Not applicable 55, Phase 4 54, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 3) 2015: 198 trials (Other 1, Observational 15, Not applicable 79, Phase 4 49, Phase 3 19, Phase 2/3 14, Phase 2 14, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 5) 2016: 207 trials (Observational 30, Not applicable 81, Phase 4 49, Phase 3 18, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 18, Phase 1 5) 2017: 288 trials (Observational 42, Not applicable 134, Phase 4 60, Phase 3 19, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 13, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 11) 2018: 324 trials (Observational 46, Not applicable 174, Phase 4 60, Phase 3 13, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 7) 2019: 354 trials (Observational 44, Not applicable 180, Phase 4 77, Phase 3 26, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 14, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 5) 2020: 327 trials (Observational 34, Not applicable 186, Phase 4 56, Phase 3 20, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 11) 2021: 424 trials (Observational 48, Not applicable 237, Phase 4 64, Phase 3 24, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 16) 2022: 467 trials (Other 1, Observational 61, Not applicable 276, Phase 4 74, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 15, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 16) 2023: 470 trials (Observational 72, Not applicable 296, Phase 4 51, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 12) 2024: 484 trials (Observational 70, Not applicable 305, Phase 4 60, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 8, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 13) 2025: 430 trials (Observational 51, Not applicable 292, Phase 4 56, Phase 3 7, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 8)

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) 548
2025 430
2024 484
2023 470
2022 467
2021 424
2020 327
2019 354
2018 324
2017 288

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 600 trials starting in 2026 and about 500 in 2027, the average of the 24 months through September, counted as registered and carried forward. 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 13 percent and ran about 12 percent low against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 19 percent and ran about 17 percent low against the count later registered, and had about the same error as repeating last year's count. 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 30 months from start to primary completion across 530 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 12 months across 3,445 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Postoperative Pain trials in? (9)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 139
Phase 1/2 37
Phase 2 268
Phase 2/3 96
Phase 3 352
Phase 4 1,042
Not applicable 2,897
Observational 697
Unknown 2

How many Postoperative Pain trials are recruiting? (9)

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 392
Recruiting 528
Enrolling by invitation 60
Active, not recruiting 121
Completed 3,148

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

Which drugs are being tested for Postoperative 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 315
DEXMEDETOMIDINE 108
PMI-150 (intranasal ketamine) 87
FENTANYL 68
Oxycodone 65

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.) 168
Ropivacaine 2 % 150
Dexamethasone/Dexamethasone acetate 142
PO Morphine 140
Erector Spinae Plane Block 125

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 Postoperative 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
Pulmonary embolism 28 17
Pneumonia 20 13
Atrial Fibrillation 19 5
Deep vein thrombosis 19 14
Pyrexia 17 10

Which publications cover Postoperative Pain? (9,525)

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

Sub-conditions in MeSH (1)

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

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

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

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