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Varicose UlcerNCT01671748

MIST Ultrasound Therapy Compared to United Kingdom Standard Care for the Treatment of Non-healing Venous Leg Ulcers

A study testing MIST ultrasound therapy in people with Varicose Ulcer, run by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board at 1 site in United Kingdom.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Chronic venous leg ulcers (VLUs) impact negatively on patients' quality of life. Standard treatment in the UK for patients with VLUs is compression bandaging or stockings. The MIST ultrasound system is a noncontact device which delivers low frequency ultrasound through a gentle saline mist directed at a patient's… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Varicose Ulcer
What is being tested?
MIST ultrasound therapy
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
47 participants
Where
1 siteUnited Kingdom
Study dates
Aug 2012to Dec 2013
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

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 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Venous leg ulcers (as diagnosed by the clinician)
  • Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) >0.8
  • If multiple ulcers are present treat largest ulcer only (index ulcer) with minimum distance of 1 cm between index ulcer and any other ulcer
  • 18 years or older
  • Ulcer size of 5 cm^2 - 100 cm^2 (with no longest length being greater than 10 cm) at randomisation point (week 5)
  • Mobile enough to attend clinic
  • Index ulcer between 6 weeks and 5 years duration prior to screening date

Who cannot join

  • Uncontrolled diabetes (Hba1c ≥12%) as tested within the past 3 months
  • Index ulcer has active infection on day of inclusion requiring use or oral or IV antibiotics
  • Renal failure
  • Index ulcer has exposed tendons, ligaments, muscle, or bone
  • Osteomyelitis or cellulitis or gangrene in study limb
  • Subjects with amputation above a trans metatarsal amputation (TMA) in the study limb
Show all 19Show fewer
  • Subjects with active malignancy on the study limb
  • Index ulcer that is of arterial disease aetiology
  • Females of child bearing potential who are not willing to use a method of highly effective contraception during the entire study
  • Planned vascular surgery, angioplasty, or thrombolysis procedures within the study period, or 6 weeks post-operatively
  • Planned surgical procedure during the study period for the index wound
  • Prior skin replacement, negative pressure therapy, ultrasound therapy applied to the index wound 2 weeks before screening
  • Oral or IV antibiotics within 48 hours of baseline measurements
  • Growth factor therapy within previous 14 days of screening date
  • Currently receiving or has received radiation or chemotherapy within 3 months of randomisation
  • Pregnant or breast feeding women
  • Subject is currently enrolled or has been enrolled in the last 30 days in another investigational device or drug trial
  • Subject's wound would require ultrasound near an electronic implant or prosthesis
  • Subjects lacking capacity to provide informed consent.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United Kingdom1 site
  • Wound Healing Research Unit, Cardiff University

    Cardiff, CF14 4XN

Other trials in United Kingdom

About this study

Official title: Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial of MIST Ultrasound Therapy Compared to UK Standard Care for the Treatment of Non-healing Venous Leg Ulcers.

Chronic venous leg ulcers (VLUs) impact negatively on patients' quality of life. Standard treatment in the UK for patients with VLUs is compression bandaging or stockings. The MIST ultrasound system is a noncontact device which delivers low frequency ultrasound through a gentle saline mist directed at a patient's wound. This study aims to determine whether the use of the MIST device used in combination with standard treatments can improve healing of VLUs compared to UK standard practice. This will be assessed by measuring any reduction in wound size in the two groups after receiving 8 weeks of either Standard Care once a week or MIST combined with Standard Care three times a week.

Read the detailed description

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are wounds which are often chronic and difficult to heal. VLUs affect between 1 and 3.2 people per 1000; they cause pain, reduced mobility and impact negatively on patients' quality of life (QoL). Standard treatment for patients with VLUs is the application of strong, sustained compression with bandages or stockings. This pragmatically-designed study aims to determine whether the use of a device called MIST used in combination with standard treatments can improve healing of VLUs compared to UK standard practice. It will also show whether the MIST regimen improves participants' QoL and reduces the incidence of infection.

The MIST ultrasound system is a non-contact device which delivers low-frequency ultrasound through a gentle saline mist directed at a patient's wound. Patients (over 18 years old) will be invited to take part in this study if they have had a VLU for 6 weeks or more, which measures between 5 and 100 cm^2, and is not infected. Participants with diabetes must show good blood glucose control, and those with underlying chronic disorders which may affect wound healing will be excluded.

All study participants will receive four weeks of standard treatment once a week at a single clinic at the Wound Healing Research Unit (WHRU), University Hospital of Wales. Patients whose wounds reduce by more than 40% during this time will be withdrawn from the study. Remaining patients will be randomly allocated to either the active group or the control group to receive a further eight weeks of treatment. Participants in the active group will receive treatment with the MIST device three times a week, as well as standard care (change of compression bandage and dressings) three times a week. The control group will receive UK standard care (which is dressing and compression bandage change at least once a week). The participants' ulcers will be measured and photographed once a week, and the wound characteristics will be assessed. Changes in participants' health related QoL will be assessed using a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the trial. Wound recurrence rates 90 days after the end of the treatment will be assessed by telephoning patients.

Conditions
Varicose Ulcer
Being tested
MIST ultrasound therapy, Standard Care
Keywords
Venous Leg Ulcer, Varicose Ulcer, Chronic ulcer, Chronic wound, Ultrasound therapy, MIST device, Wound healing, Low frequency non contact ultrasound
Medical subject headings
Varicose Ulcer

What participants receive

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

  • MIST ultrasound therapyDevice

    Also called MIST non-contact low-frequecy ultrasound device, MIST

    Low frequency, non-contact ultrasound system delivering therapeutic ultrasound via a fine saline mist to the wound bed.

  • Standard CareOther

    Compression bandaging, non-adherent dressing, and debridement if required.

Study groups in NCT01671748
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Standard CareActive comparatorStandard treatment for VLUs is administered once a week, i.e. compression bandaging and non-adherent dressing, with debridement if required.
Receives: Other: Standard Care
MIST and Standard CareExperimentalMIST ultrasound therapy is applied for between 3 and 12 minutes (depending on wound size) 3 times a week in combination with standard treatment for VLUs of compression bandaging and non-adherent dressing change 3 times a week, with debridement as required.
Receives: Device: MIST ultrasound therapy; Other: Standard Care

What is being measured

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

  1. Percentage Change in Wound Area

    Wound area is measured weekly using a digital wound imaging device. The wound boundary is digitally traced by a blinded assessor. Percentage and actual change in wound area between start of treatment (week 5) and end of treatment (week 13) is evaluated.

    Measured: Week 5 to 13

  2. Actual Change in Wound Area

    Wound area is measured weekly using a digital wound imaging device. The wound boundary is digitally traced by a blinded assessor. Percentage and actual change in wound area between start of treatment (week 5) and end of treatment (week 13) is evaluated.

    Measured: Week 5 to 13

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Change in Overall Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) From Week 1 (Start) and Week 13 (Exit)

    On the first and final visit participants were invited to complete a Cardiff Wound Impact Schedule (CWIS) a validated questionnaire designed to measure the impact of chronic wounds on patient health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The overall HRQoL question asks patients to rate their overall quality of life over the past week by circling a number between 0 and 10. Low scores indicate poor quality of life, and high score indicate good quality of life. Change in HRQoL was calculated by subtracting week 1 values from week 13 values.

    CWIS has been validated in the following paper: Price and Harding (2004) The Cardiff Wound Impact Schedule: the development of a condition specific questionnaire to assess health-related quality of life in patients with chronic wounds. International Wound Journal 1(1):10-17

    Measured: Week 1 (start) and week 13 (exit)

  2. Change in Ulcer Pain Between Week 5 (Randomisation) and Week 13 (Exit)

    Pain was scored by each patient on a visual analogue score (VAS) from 0 to 100. A VAS score of 0 indicated no pain whilst a VAS score of 100 indicated worst possible pain. Change in pain scores were calculated by subtracting week 5 values from week 13 values.

    Measured: Weeks 5 to 13

  3. Incidence of Wound Infection

    Median number of wound infections per patient (as demonstrated by clinical symptoms) from beginning of treatment (week 5) and end of treatment (week 13).

    Measured: Weeks 5 to 13

  4. Number of Non-serious Adverse Events in Each Group

    Adverse events (AEs) were defined as any undesirable clinical occurrence in a subject whether it is thought to be related to the investigational device or not.

    Measured: Week 5 to 13

  5. Wound Recurrence Rate

    Patients whose wound has healed (defined as 100% epithelialisation with no scab present) before or at the end of treatment will be asked 90 days after date of healing if their wound has remained closed.

    Measured: 90 days after time of healing

Timeline

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

  1. First posted24 Aug 2012 (estimated)
  2. Study startAug 2012
  3. Primary completionDec 2013
  4. Study completionDec 2013

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
47 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01671748
Sponsor's protocol ID
12-SUR-5323
Status last verified
Jul 2015
First submitted
21 Aug 2012
Last updated
26 Aug 2015
Data monitoring committee
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing MIST ultrasound therapy in people with Varicose Ulcer, run by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board at 1 site in United Kingdom.

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 7 inclusion and 19 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: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 26 Aug 2015. 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 United Kingdom. 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?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 26 Aug 2015). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Percentage Change in Wound Area (time frame: Week 5 to 13). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
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 26 Aug 2015.

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