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Condition (MeSH)

Acute Pain

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 1,055 trials for Acute Pain or a narrower condition beneath it. Grünenthal GmbH has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 11.

MeSH D059787 Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms C23
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Phase 1 Phase 1 48 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 10 Phase 2 Phase 2 78 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 23 Phase 3 Phase 3 85 Phase 4 Phase 4 156 Not applicable Not applicable 523 Observational Observational 132 Phase 1 Phase 1 48 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 10 Phase 2 Phase 2 78 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 23 Phase 3 Phase 3 85 Phase 4 Phase 4 156 Not applicable Not applicable 523 Observational Observational 132

Trials per phase (log scale)

1,055 of the 1,055 trials are tagged with Acute Pain itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Acute 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 Acute Pain trials start? (26)

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. 4 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

Top of scale: 108

2001: 2 trials (Observational 1, Phase 2 1) 2002: 2 trials (Phase 4 1, Phase 3 1) 2003: 3 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 2/3 1) 2004: 6 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 1) 2005: 9 trials (Not applicable 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 2, Phase 1/2 1) 2006: 5 trials (Phase 4 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 1) 2007: 9 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 2, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 2) 2008: 10 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 6) 2009: 10 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 1) 2010: 8 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 1, Phase 1 1) 2011: 15 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 4) 2012: 17 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 4, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 3, Phase 1 2) 2013: 25 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 5, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 1) 2014: 32 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 10, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 6, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 2) 2015: 29 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 8, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 3, Phase 1/2 1) 2016: 40 trials (Observational 7, Not applicable 14, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 6, Phase 2 2, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 3) 2017: 74 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 26, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 5, Phase 1 3) 2018: 84 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 43, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 6, Phase 2 5, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 4) 2019: 88 trials (Observational 7, Not applicable 43, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 6, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 7) 2020: 64 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 36, Phase 4 10, Phase 3 5, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 4, Phase 1 2) 2021: 99 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 63, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 5, Phase 1 1) 2022: 108 trials (Observational 10, Not applicable 66, Phase 4 12, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 5, Phase 1 4) 2023: 95 trials (Observational 15, Not applicable 59, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 6, Phase 1 4) 2024: 95 trials (Observational 13, Not applicable 61, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 7, Phase 2 4, Phase 1 3) 2025: 62 trials (Observational 9, Not applicable 38, Phase 4 9, Phase 2 4, Phase 1 2)

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) 58
2025 62
2024 95
2023 95
2022 108
2021 99
2020 64
2019 88
2018 84
2017 74

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 70 trials starting in 2026 and about 62 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 15 percent and ran about 1 percent high against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 26 percent and ran about 20 percent low against the count later registered. The part-way figures are from forecasts that used a multiple fitted only on earlier years. 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 29 months from start to primary completion across 96 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 11 months across 712 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Acute Pain trials in? (8)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 48
Phase 1/2 10
Phase 2 78
Phase 2/3 23
Phase 3 85
Phase 4 156
Not applicable 523
Observational 132

How many Acute 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 51
Recruiting 76
Enrolling by invitation 6
Active, not recruiting 13
Completed 662

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Acute Pain trials? (3)

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
Grünenthal GmbH 11
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 10
Ankara Etlik City Hospital 9

Which drugs are being tested for Acute Pain? (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
PMI-150 (intranasal ketamine) 35
+/- Bupivacaine HCl 34
FENTANYL 18
Oxycodone 15
Suzetrigine 10

Interventions as named in the registry (10)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
PO Morphine 35
A3: Acetaminophen (Tylenol caplets®, from Janssen-Cilag, S.A. de C.V.) 29
Tramadol 5% 18
L:Lidocaine 16
Hydromorphone ER 13

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 Acute 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
Any lung complication 133 1
ICU admission for respiratory complication 76 1
Intubation & Mechanical Ventilation 33 1
Other surgical/medical procedure 26 1
Preclampsia and Hypertension 13 1

Which publications cover Acute Pain? (582)

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

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

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

Browse all condition evidence pages