Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS-RCT)

July 12, 2018 updated by: Ahmed Hegazy, Lawson Health Research Institute

Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this study is to assess the impact of perioperative point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) assessment on patient-important outcomes (e.g. hospital length of stay, length of stay in recovery, mortality etc.) and perioperative patient management strategies, in patients undergoing non-elective non-cardiac surgeries.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Preoperative patients undergoing emergency non-cardiac surgery will be approached for study recruitment and participation. Study participants will be randomized to receive, or not, a preoperative POCUS exam as part of their routine preoperative assessment. Patients randomized to receiving a POCUS exam will undergo a protocolized focused cardiac ultrasound, lung and pleural ultrasound and a gastric volume and content ultrasound assessment. Results of this exam will be disclosed to the anesthesiologist and primary care team. Randomization will be stratified by the presence of any sign(s) of cardiorespiratory failure. Signs of cardiorespiratory failure are defined as: systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg, heart rate>100, respiratory rate >24, Oxygen saturation <90%, requirement of supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation, new requirement of loop diuretics in current hospital admission, chest pain, newly diagnosed ECG changes, requirement of vasoactive drugs, signs of pre-renal azotemia (BUN:creatinine ratio >20). Outcome data will be collected prospectively. Investigators performing and interpreting the scan will disclose the results to the care team but will not participate in patient care. Primary and secondary outcome data collection will be performed by an investigator blinded to patient assignment. The primary outcome is post anesthetic care unit length-of-stay. The secondary outcomes are post-randomization hospital length of stay, number of operating room (OR) delays for optimization, alterations in anesthetic management (using a brief anesthesiologist-administered survey), intensiveness of OR management (invasive blood pressure monitoring, central venous pressure monitoring, intraoperative TEE), new peri-operative diuretic use, new intensive care admission rates, mortality during this admission, amount/frequency of postoperative investigations, rates of detection of new pathologies identified by preoperative POCUS exam and the rates of adequately diagnostic POCUS studies.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
100

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Ahmed Hegazy, Assist. Prof
  • Phone Number: 5198604917
  • Email: ahegazy@uwo.ca

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5A5
        • Recruiting
        • London Health Sciences Centre
        • Contact:
          • Ahmed Hegazy, Assist. Prof
          • Phone Number: 5198604917
          • Email: ahegazy@uwo.ca
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Osama Sefein, Resident
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Kiarash Mohajer, Resident
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Philip Jones, Assoc. Prof
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Ramiro Arellano, Assoc. Prof
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Robert Arntfield, Assist. Prof
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Wilfredo Puentes, Assist. Prof
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Jonathan Borger, Assist. Prof

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients aged >17 years
  • Undergoing urgent or emergent non-cardiac surgery classified as intermediate or high risk according to American Heart Association(AHA)/American College of Cardiology(ACC) guidelines.

These include vascular surgeries (supra or infra-inguinal), intraperitoneal surgeries, intra-thoracic surgeries, head and neck surgeries, spine surgeries, urologic surgeries, and proximal extremity orthopedic surgeries. Peripheral extremity surgeries (wrist or below, and ankle or below), in addition to appendectomies and cholecystectomy surgeries will be excluded from this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients scheduled for elective or pre-booked surgeries
  • Patients undergoing cardiac surgeries
  • Patients undergoing low risk procedures e.g. endoscopic procedures, superficial skin, subcutaneous tissue, breast, ophthalmic, and ambulatory surgeries
  • Patients undergoing orthopedic peripheral extremity surgeries (e.g. ankle, wrist, hand, foot)
  • Patients who have had an echo during the current hospital admission prior to recruitment.
  • Patients where the investigator performing or over-reading the POCUS scan is required to participate directly in perioperative patient care (e.g. anesthesiologist co-investigator performing or over-reading scan is on-call for this emergency case)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Scan group
Patients randomized to the scan group (intervention arm) will receive a preoperative point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) exam as an adjunct to their preoperative assessment, the results of which will be disclosed to the anesthesiologist and the patient care team. This POCUS exam will include a focused cardiac ultrasound, a lung and pleural ultrasound, and a gastric volume and content ultrasound assessment. Patients randomized to this arm may also receive repeat POCUS exams as needed and as clinical conditions change. These repeat exams may be requested by the anesthesiologist or patient care team.
Diagnostic test: Scan
The preoperative point of care ultrasound includes a protocolized focused cardiac ultrasound, lung and pleural ultrasound and a gastric volume and content ultrasound assessment, all of which will be performed as an adjunct to the anesthesiologist's assessment. The result of this ultrasound examination will be disclosed to the anesthesiologist and patient care teams. Repeat ultrasounds may be done as the patient's clinical condition changes, or as requested by the anesthesiologist or patient care team.
Other Names:
  • POCUS
  • Ultrasound examination
  • Point-of-care ultrasound
No Intervention: No scan group
Patients randomized to no scan (control arm) will not receive a preoperative point-of-care ultrasound exam. Patients in this arm will receive the standard-of-care; a routine preoperative assessment and physical examination by their attending anesthesiologist.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay
Time Frame: From time of PACU admission until the time of transfer from PACU, assessed up to 48 hours.
Total time (minutes) from postoperative PACU admission to PACU discharge.
From time of PACU admission until the time of transfer from PACU, assessed up to 48 hours.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Post-randomization hospital length-of-stay
Time Frame: From date of randomization until the date of hospital discharge or death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 4 weeks.
Number of days in hospital from study enrollment to discharge or death.
From date of randomization until the date of hospital discharge or death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 4 weeks.
New ICU admission rates
Time Frame: From time of randomization to the immediate postoperative period, assessed up to 6 hours after the conclusion of surgery.
New admissions to ICU in the immediate post operative period in patients previously on the ward or in the emergency department.
From time of randomization to the immediate postoperative period, assessed up to 6 hours after the conclusion of surgery.
Rates of detection of unexpected or new pathologies
Time Frame: From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
New cardiac, pulmonary or gastric pathology detected by preoperative POCUS not known to be present previously. Examples include valve lesions, resting regional wall motion abnormalities, ventricular dysfunction, ventricular hypertrophy, pulmonary edema, consolidation and/or pleural effusion. This will be calculated only for participants randomized to the Scan Group.
From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Change in anesthetic plan based on the scan result
Time Frame: From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
A survey will be administered to the anesthesiologist caring for the patient asking whether the POCUS exam findings influenced the anesthetic plan for the patient. If the answer is "yes, it did influence the anesthetic plan", subsequent questions will explore how it influenced anesthetic management. These will include questions of whether it influenced fluid management, anesthetic technique, choice of invasive lines, choice or dose of induction agents, or delay of surgery for optimization or further work-up. This will be calculated only in participants randomized to the Scan Group.
From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Intensiveness of operating room (OR) management
Time Frame: During OR time post randomization, assessed until the patient is transferred from the OR to PACU, up to 7 days from randomization.
Use of invasive lines i.e. arterial, central lines or TEE monitoring
During OR time post randomization, assessed until the patient is transferred from the OR to PACU, up to 7 days from randomization.
New or change in peri-operative diuretics use
Time Frame: From time of enrollment, up to 2 weeks from randomization.
New use or change in pattern of diuretic use in the pre, intra or post operative phases.
From time of enrollment, up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Rates of blood work ordered and imaging investigations
Time Frame: From time of enrollment, up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Frequency of post-randomization blood draws, frequency of post-randomization imaging studies (X-rays, CT's, MRI's, ultrasounds, echoes, and nuclear scans).
From time of enrollment, up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Mortality
Time Frame: From time of enrollment, up to 4 weeks from randomization.
In-hospital post randomization mortality rate. Patients dying after transfer to another acute care hospital will also be counted as an in-hospital post randomization mortality.
From time of enrollment, up to 4 weeks from randomization.
Rates of adequately diagnostic focused cardiac ultrasounds, lung and pleural ultrasounds, and gastric volume/content assessments.
Time Frame: From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
An adequately diagnostic focused cardiac ultrasound will be defined as a scan having two or more views showing at least 3 cardiac chambers with diagnostic quality. An adequately diagnostic lung and pleural scan will demonstrate a clear aeration pattern in both hemithoraces with visualization of the diaphragm or a corresponding curtain sign. An adequately diagnostic gastric ultrasound will be done in right lateral decubitus and demonstrate the liver in the near field, a great vessel (aorta or IVC) in the far field, and the stomach antrum deep to the liver in the near to mid-field with visualization of the hypo-echoic muscularis propria. These outcomes will be examined only in participants randomized to the Scan Group.
From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Rates of OR delays for optimization or further work-up.
Time Frame: From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.
Number of delays in the patient's surgery for optimization or further work-up.
From time of randomization to the time of interpretation of the last POCUS scan, assessed up to 2 weeks from randomization.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Lawson Health Research Institute

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Ahmed Hegazy, Assist. Prof, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry\Anaesthesia

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 4, 2017

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2018

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 30, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 28, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 3, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 8, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 16, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 12, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 108613

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Emergencies

Clinical Trials on Scan

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings