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TraumaNCT02650154

The Effects of the Anesthetic Ketamine in Young Children Undergoing Procedural Sedation

An observational study of Trauma, run by The Hospital for Sick Children at 1 site in Canada.

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

In the emergency department (ED), ketamine is a popular anesthetic agent during sedation of children for painful and other short procedures. Sedation for procedures is more commonly used in children than adults, to achieve motion control and cooperation. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 3 to 48 months
Conditions the study is for
Trauma
How many people
70 participants
Where
1 siteCanada
Study dates
Aug 2013to Feb 2016
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

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 3 to 48 months
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child

Study population: All children between the ages of 3 and 48 months who receive intravenous ketamine for procedural sedation in the ED during study enrolment hours will be eligible for recruitment.

Who may be able to join

  • 1. All children between the ages of 3 and 48 months who receive intravenous ketamine for procedural sedation in the ED during study enrolment hours will be eligible for recruitment.

Who cannot join

  • Children with contraindications to procedural sedation in the ED according to SickKids (the Hospital for Sick Children) practice guidelines or to ketamine administration will not be considered.
  • Parents with an insurmountable language barrier (i.e. does not speak English and are not accompanied by another adult who cannot translate for the parent/caregiver), which prevents informed consent.
  • Child who has received procedural sedation/ or surgery under general anesthesia in the past 30 days.
  • A child who has received any central nervous system drugs (e.g. anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines) or a known neurotoxic drug (e.g., methotrexate, corticosteroids) concomitantly or in the 30 days preceding the sedation.
  • A child who has suffered traumatic head injury concomitantly or in the previous 30 days
  • A child who has CNS (Central Nervous System) illnesses or pathologies (e.g., meningitis, near drowning, hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, seizure disorder) in the 30 days prior to sedation, potentially leading to elevated baseline serum biomarkers.
  • A child whose parents are considered to be in emotional distress due to the injury or illness of the child by the attending ED physician or where the attending ED physician does not believe it is appropriate to ask the parents for consent.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Canada1 site
  • The Hospital for Sick Children

    Toronto, Ontario, M5G1X8

Other trials in Canada

About this study

In the emergency department (ED), ketamine is a popular anesthetic agent during sedation of children for painful and other short procedures. Sedation for procedures is more commonly used in children than adults, to achieve motion control and cooperation. In children, ketamine offers an ideal choice due to the fact that it is short acting, a highly effective sedative, and preserves cardio-respiratory stability. In the United States, more than one million children per year up to four years of age undergo short procedures requiring anesthestic agents, including ketamine. However, there is mounting concern from animal studies and retrospective human research regarding the safety of ketamine when administered to infants and young children with respect to its potential toxic effects on the developing . Conversely, ketamine has also been suggested as a neuroprotective agent. Prompt investigation and resolution of this issue is urgently required.

Read the detailed description

The objectives of this study are:

Primary Objective: In otherwise healthy children between 3 and 48 months of age who present to a tertiary care emergency department and receive procedural sedation with ketamine, to determine if there is at least a 50% increase, compared to baseline in the serum concentration of any of the neurotoxicity biomarkers S100B, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or neuronal-specific enolase (NSE), 1 to 3 hours after intravenous ketamine administration. The cut-off of 50% is a benchmark value routinely quoted in both animal and human studies, which correlated neurotoxicity biomarker levels with functional outcomes.

Secondary Objectives: In the aforementioned population:

  1. To determine if at least a 50% increase in the serum concentration of S100B, GFAP or NSE compared to baseline at 6 to 12 hours after intravenous ketamine administration.
  2. To explore if genotypes relevant to ketamine metabolism and disposition are associated with increased vulnerability to the neurotoxic effects of ketamine.
  3. To determine the toxic effect of ketamine administration at the cellular level (evidence of sustainable cellular damage and mitochondrial DNA changes).
Conditions
Trauma
Keywords
sedation, children, infants, ketamine, neurotoxicity
Medical subject headings
Wounds and Injuries, Neurotoxicity Syndromes

What participants receive

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

Study groups in NCT02650154
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Pre-ketamine groupBlood samples are taken prior to the administration of ketamine.
Post-ketamine groupBlood samples are taken several hours after the administration of ketamine.

What is being measured

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

  1. Increase in serum biomarkers of neurotoxicity (neuronal cell apoptosis)

    Measured: 1 to 24 hours from ketamine exposure

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Ketamine-induced mitochondrial damage

    Peripheral blood cells we be tested for for mitochondrial damage (changes in biomass and mtDNA) post ketamine exposure. Isolated lymphocytes from pre- and post-ketamine exposure blood samples from each patient will be split into two pools analysed for changes to mitochondrial content and mtDNA damage. The first pool will be stained with mitochondrial membrane potential-specific dye (TMRM) and imaged to reveal changes in mitochondrial morphology and function. DNA will be isolated from the second pool and probed for both cellular mitochondrial content and mtDNA damage using quantitative PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).

    Measured: 1-24 hours from ketamine exposure

  2. Pharmacogenetics role in ketamine toxicity

    In each patient we will determine the allele distribution (proportions/percentages) of polymorphic genes associated with the metabolism of ketamine.

    Measured: 1-24 hours from ketamine exposure

Timeline

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

  1. First posted8 Jan 2016 (estimated)
  2. Study startAug 2013
  3. Primary completionFeb 2016
  4. Study completionFeb 2016

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
70 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02650154
Sponsor's protocol ID
REB1000033567
Status last verified
Oct 2016
First submitted
5 Jan 2016
Last updated
18 Oct 2016
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Trauma, run by The Hospital for Sick Children at 1 site in Canada.

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 1 inclusion and 7 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 18 Oct 2016. 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 Canada. 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?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

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?

Increase in serum biomarkers of neurotoxicity (neuronal cell apoptosis) (time frame: 1 to 24 hours from ketamine exposure). 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 18 Oct 2016.

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