Role of Delay and Antibiotics on Perforation Rate While Waiting Appendectomy (PERFECT)

July 9, 2023 updated by: Panu Mentula, Helsinki University Central Hospital

Role of Delay and Antibiotics on PERForation Rate While Waiting appendECTomy - Randomized Non-inferiority Trial

This study evaluates the effects of preoperative delay and antibiotics on perforation rate of appendix while waiting surgery for acute appendicitis. Patients with diagnosed acute appendicitis are randomized into two urgency groups: surgery within 8 hours or surgery within 24 hours. In addition, patients are randomized to either receive antibiotics while waiting or waiting without antibiotics.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

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 (Actual)

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.
1800

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.
  • Phase 4

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.

Study Locations

  • Finland
      • Espoo, Finland
        • HUS, Jorvi Hospital
      • Helsinki, Finland, 00029
        • HUS, Meilahti Hospital

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

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Acute appendicitis where surgery is planned. Diagnosis of appendicitis should be verified either by clinical diagnosis with Adult Appendicitis Score >=16 or by diagnostic imaging (CT-scan, MRI or ultrasound) showing appendicitis. All patients with symptoms at least 3 days should undergo diagnostic imaging before inclusion.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Complicated appendicitis according to diagnostic imaging. The following findings indicate complicated appendicitis: extraluminal air or extraluminal fecalith; fluid collection, abscess or phlegmon next to appendix; non-enhancement appendiceal wall on contrast enhanced CT-scan.
  • Plasma C-reactive protein >=100
  • Fever measured on emergency department over 38.5 degrees Celcius.
  • Clinical generalized peritonitis or other reason that indicate immediate surgery
  • Pregnancy, pregnancy test is taken from all fertile aged women before randomization
  • Allergy to study antibiotics, or anaphylactic reaction after betalactam antibiotic or other contraindication for metronidazole or ongoing antibiotic treatment or patient is carrier of resistant bacteria. (This exclusion criteria are applicable only on randomization into antibiotic treatment arms)
  • Missing written informed consent

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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.
Active Comparator: Surgery within 8 hours, no antibiotics
Patients are planned for urgent operation, that should be done within 8 hours. Operation can be done during the night time. Patients do not receive antibiotics while waiting surgery. Prophylactic antibiotics are given 0-30 minutes before incision.
Drug: No antibiotics
No antibiotics are given while waiting surgery.
Other: urgent schedule
Patients can wait up to 8 hours for surgery.
Experimental: Surgery within 24 hours, no antibiotics
Patients are planned for urgent operation, that should be done within 24 hours. Operations are not done during the night time (00:00 - 08:00), unless necessary to avoid delay over 24 hours. Patients do not receive antibiotics while waiting surgery. Prophylactic antibiotics are given 0-30 minutes before incision.
Drug: No antibiotics
No antibiotics are given while waiting surgery.
Other: less urgent schedule
Patients can wait up to 24 hours for surgery.
Experimental: Surgery within 8 hours, antibiotics
Patients are planned for urgent operation, that should be done within 8 hours. Antibiotics (cefuroxime 1.5g and metronidazole 500mg every 8 hours) are given while waiting surgery.
Other: urgent schedule
Patients can wait up to 8 hours for surgery.
Drug: Antibiotics, cefuroxime and metronidazole
Patient receives antibiotics while waiting appendectomy
Experimental: Surgery within 24 hours, antibiotics
Patients are planned for urgent operation, that should be done within 24 hours. Operations are not done during the night time (00:00 - 08:00), unless necessary to avoid delay over 24 hours. Antibiotics (cefuroxime 1.5g and metronidazole 500mg every 8 hours) are given while waiting surgery.
Other: less urgent schedule
Patients can wait up to 24 hours for surgery.
Drug: Antibiotics, cefuroxime and metronidazole
Patient receives antibiotics while waiting appendectomy

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
Complicated appendicitis
Time Frame: during surgery
Surgical finding is complicated appendicitis (AAST Grade III-V)
during surgery

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
Time of hospital stay
Time Frame: 30 days from surgery
Time in hours from randomization to discharge from hospital
30 days from surgery
Postoperative complications
Time Frame: 30 days from surgery
complications are defined according to Clavien-Dindo classification
30 days from surgery
Pain measured by numeric rating scale while waiting surgery
Time Frame: up to 36 hours
Pain is measured by numeric rating scale (NRS) every hour by patient, and area under NRS represents overall pain.
up to 36 hours
Surgical site infections (SSI) and positive blood cultures
Time Frame: within 30 days from randomization
SSIs classified according to CDC classification: superficial incisional, deep incisional and organ/space infection. Blood cultures are obtained if patient has fever over 38.5 degrees Celcius.
within 30 days from randomization
Conversions of laparoscopic surgeries to open surgery
Time Frame: during the the first operation for acute appendicitis
All surgeries are started as laparoscopic surgery. Conversion means that operation is converted to open surgery during the same operation.
during the the first operation for acute appendicitis
Gangrenous or perforated appendicitis according to pathological examination.
Time Frame: 3 week after surgery
All specimens are sent to pathological examination and all pathological reports are reviewed
3 week after surgery
Sunshine Appendicitis Grading System Score classification
Time Frame: during surgery
Sunshine Appendicitis Grading System Score (range 0-4) for appendicitis. Higher score represents worse outcome
during surgery

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.
Helsinki University Central Hospital

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: Panu J Mentula, MD, Helsinki University Central Hospital

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

Helpful Links

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.
May 18, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

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.
January 23, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

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.
February 23, 2023

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 29, 2020

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 4, 2020

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 7, 2020

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 11, 2023

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 9, 2023

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, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • HUS-PERFECT
  • 2019-002348-26 (EudraCT Number)

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.

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