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Condition (MeSH)

Postoperative Complications

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 10,338 trials for Postoperative Complications or a narrower condition beneath it.

MeSH D011183 Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms C23
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Phase 1 Phase 1 225 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 86 Phase 2 Phase 2 477 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 164 Phase 3 Phase 3 631 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,542 Not applicable Not applicable 4,956 Observational Observational 2,248 Phase 1 Phase 1 225 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 86 Phase 2 Phase 2 477 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 164 Phase 3 Phase 3 631 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,542 Not applicable Not applicable 4,956 Observational Observational 2,248

Trials per phase (log scale)

2 more sections with rows

1,314 of the 10,338 trials are tagged with Postoperative Complications itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Postoperative Complications 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 Complications trials start? (33)

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. 18 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: 830

1991: 1 trials (Observational 1) 1994: 2 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1) 1996: 5 trials (Observational 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 2 2) 1997: 3 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 1) 1998: 3 trials (Phase 3 2, Phase 1 1) 1999: 5 trials (Observational 1, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 2) 2000: 5 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 1, Phase 1 1) 2001: 21 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 3) 2002: 16 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 8, Phase 2 1, Phase 1 2) 2003: 38 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 8, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 4) 2004: 52 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 13, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 13, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 8) 2005: 78 trials (Observational 13, Not applicable 23, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 12, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 1) 2006: 93 trials (Observational 12, Not applicable 26, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 17, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 9, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 2) 2007: 139 trials (Observational 24, Not applicable 38, Phase 4 38, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 12, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 5) 2008: 169 trials (Observational 24, Not applicable 45, Phase 4 43, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 2) 2009: 207 trials (Observational 33, Not applicable 56, Phase 4 53, Phase 3 24, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 28, Phase 1 9) 2010: 195 trials (Observational 37, Not applicable 70, Phase 4 47, Phase 3 20, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 7, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 5) 2011: 256 trials (Observational 58, Not applicable 96, Phase 4 45, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 13, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 7) 2012: 238 trials (Observational 43, Not applicable 70, Phase 4 64, Phase 3 26, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 8) 2013: 261 trials (Observational 58, Not applicable 94, Phase 4 61, Phase 3 19, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 3) 2014: 325 trials (Observational 61, Not applicable 121, Phase 4 81, Phase 3 23, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 24, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 9) 2015: 416 trials (Other 1, Observational 81, Not applicable 170, Phase 4 69, Phase 3 38, Phase 2/3 19, Phase 2 24, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 6) 2016: 436 trials (Observational 108, Not applicable 177, Phase 4 74, Phase 3 33, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 24, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 9) 2017: 540 trials (Observational 121, Not applicable 257, Phase 4 80, Phase 3 30, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 16) 2018: 592 trials (Observational 144, Not applicable 278, Phase 4 95, Phase 3 26, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 29, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 10) 2019: 623 trials (Observational 152, Not applicable 280, Phase 4 104, Phase 3 42, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 25, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 10) 2020: 624 trials (Observational 152, Not applicable 314, Phase 4 81, Phase 3 29, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 21, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 13) 2021: 767 trials (Observational 165, Not applicable 400, Phase 4 95, Phase 3 40, Phase 2/3 14, Phase 2 31, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 19) 2022: 811 trials (Other 1, Observational 181, Not applicable 438, Phase 4 98, Phase 3 28, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 28, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 22) 2023: 825 trials (Observational 209, Not applicable 458, Phase 4 75, Phase 3 33, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 17, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 19) 2024: 830 trials (Observational 176, Not applicable 481, Phase 4 90, Phase 3 34, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 18, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 18) 2025: 809 trials (Observational 170, Not applicable 475, Phase 4 83, Phase 3 23, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 27, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 16)

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) 912
2025 809
2024 830
2023 825
2022 811
2021 767
2020 624
2019 623
2018 592
2017 540

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 1,100 trials starting in 2026 and about 890 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 33 months from start to primary completion across 928 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 14 months across 6,215 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Postoperative Complications trials in? (10)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 225
Phase 1/2 86
Phase 2 477
Phase 2/3 164
Phase 3 631
Phase 4 1,542
Not applicable 4,956
Observational 2,248
Expanded access 7
Unknown 2

How many Postoperative Complications 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 698
Recruiting 1,090
Enrolling by invitation 95
Active, not recruiting 248
Available 1

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

Which drugs are being tested for Postoperative Complications? (5)

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 324
DEXMEDETOMIDINE 221
PMI-150 (intranasal ketamine) 108
PROPOFOL 99
FENTANYL 87

Interventions as named in the registry (10)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
Dexamethasone/Dexamethasone acetate 216
A3: Acetaminophen (Tylenol caplets®, from Janssen-Cilag, S.A. de C.V.) 176
Ropivacaine 2 % 154
PO Morphine 154
Erector Spinae Plane Block 126

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 Complications 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
Study Fracture Related Complication 1,462 2
Other 1,157 3
Serious adverse event 630 1
Pulmonary 325 3
Renal 227 3

Which publications cover Postoperative Complications? (18,831)

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

Sub-conditions in MeSH (25)

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.

Browse all condition evidence pages