The Protective Role of Preoperative Stimulation of GABA Before Ileostomy Closure

November 9, 2026 updated by: Wei Guo, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University

The goal of this clinical trial is to explore whether preoperative gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) lavage of the diverted colon improved postoperative bowel recovery, with time to first flatus as the primary outcome. Participants will be divided into two groups. One group included patients treated with stimulation of GABA prior to ileostomy reversal surgery; the other control group was stimulated with 0.9% saline. Researchers will compare incidence of complications such as postoperative ileus, diarrhea and other parameters such as time to tolerating a diet, start of the passage of flatus, start of the passage of stool, postoperative stay, multi-omic profiling of the gut microbiome and metabolome and serum biochemical measurements evaluating potential systemic effects, etc.

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.
90

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 3

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

  • China
    • Shandong
      • Jinan, Shandong, China, 250012
        • Qilu Hospital of Shandong University

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:

  • over 18 years of age;
  • body mass index (BMI) 18.5-28 kg/m2;
  • having protective ileostomy after colorectal carcinoma surgery free of disease;
  • with endoscopic and histological confirmation of diversion colitis;
  • no oral antibiotics or probiotic within 3 months;
  • having signed the informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • under 18 years of age;
  • a history of drug or alcohol abuse;
  • clinical history and histological confirmation of inflammatory bowel disease or other gastrointestinal motility disorders with colorectal involvement;
  • previous abdominal surgery;
  • mental disorders;
  • other serious chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory diseases, etc;
  • serious perioperative complications such as anastomotic rupture after surgery;
  • oral antibiotics or probiotic within three months;
  • participation in any other studies within the past 3 months;
  • refusal to participate in the study.

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: Double

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: preoperative stimulation of diverted colorectal segments with GABA before ileostomy closure surgery

Patients allocated to the GABA group received local preoperative enema stimulation of the diverted distal colorectal segment once daily for four consecutive days before ileostomy closure. For each session, the contents of four GNC GABA 750-mg capsules, providing 3,000 mg of labeled GABA, were dissolved in 100 mL of sterile 0.9% sodium chloride injection manufactured by Shijiazhuang No. 4 Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Shijiazhuang, China), yielding a final nominal GABA concentration of 30 mg/mL. GABA was supplied as commercially available dietary-supplement-grade capsules (GNC Holdings, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA). According to the manufacturer's label, each capsule contained 750 mg of gamma-aminobutyric acid; a numerical analytical purity specification was not provided by the manufacturer. The preparation was made aseptically immediately before administration and infused slowly over 10-20 minutes through a sterile 14-Ch Foley catheter connected to an infusion set.
Dietary supplement: preoperative stimulation of the diverted distal colorectal segment with GABA before ileostomy closure surgery

Foley catheter No.14 Ch connected to an infusion set was introduced through the defunctioned bowel to allow the slow infusion, for 10-20 minutes, of a solution with 3000 mg of GABA diluted in 100 ml of 0.9% physiological saline.
Sham Comparator: control group was stimulated with 0.9% saline

Patients allocated to the sham group received 100 mL sterile 0.9% sodium chloride injection following an identical protocol, including catheter insertion, infusion route, infusion volume, infusion duration, and symptom recording, but without GABA administration. After completion of four enema sessions, all patients underwent ileostomy closure within the subsequent 24 h.
Dietary supplement: preoperative stimulation of the efferent loop with only physiological saline

Foley catheter No.14 Ch connected to an infusion set was introduced through the defunctioned bowel to allow the slow infusion, for 10-20 minutes, of 100 ml of 0.9% physiological saline.

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
time to first flatus
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

time from the end of surgery to the first passage of flatus
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

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
the incidence of POI (Postoperative Ileus)
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

the incidence of POI
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
time to first passage of stool
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

time to first passage of stool
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
incidence of watery stool
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

incidence of watery stool
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
time to first liquid intake
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

time to first liquid intake
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
time to tolerance of a solid diet
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

time to tolerance of a solid diet
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
total and postoperative lengths of hospital stay
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

total and postoperative lengths of hospital stay
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
profiling of the gut microbiome
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

metagenomic sequencing of the gut microbiota.
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
profiling of metabolome
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

metabolomic profiling of colonic lavage fluid and plasma.
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days
serum biochemical measurements
Time Frame: From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

biochemical indicators of hepatic and renal function, lipid metabolism, and glucose metabolism
From date of the end of surgery until the date of discharge, assessed up to 20 days

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.
Qilu Hospital of Shandong University

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.
June 20, 2023

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.
April 30, 2024

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.
August 15, 2024

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).
May 30, 2023

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.
June 7, 2023

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.
June 15, 2023

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.
November 13, 2026

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.
November 9, 2026

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.
November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • KYLL-202212-066-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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