Magnesium Sulfate For Brain Injury

October 26, 2011 updated by: Nancy Temkin, University of Washington

Magnesium Sulfate for Neuroprotection After Brain Trauma

The purpose of the study is to determine whether magnesium sulfate, given within 8 hours of a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury improves survival, decreases the number of people developing seizures, improves the survivors' mental and psychological functioning, including the ability to return to daily life, live independently, and return to work or school.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The purpose of the study is to determine if treating head-injured patients with magnesium sulfate will improve medical, mental, and psychological recovery. In particular, the study will assess each patient's ability to return to daily life, live independently, and return to work or school as done before the head injury occurred. The study will also assess magnesium sulfate's ability to reduce the risk of developing seizures (epilepsy) as well as to improve survival rates after a traumatic brain injury. Patients on the study are assigned randomly (by chance) to either the magnesium sulfate group or the group which gets a placebo. This means they have an equal chance of being in either group. Before the first dose is given, two teaspoons worth of blood are drawn from a vein in the arm. The first dose of magnesium sulfate is 1meq/kg given intravenously within 8 hours of injury. Then a five day continuous intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate 0.24meq/kg per hour is begun. Daily magnesium levels are checked and the dose changed in order to keep the Magnesium blood level at approximately 4meq/L. If the person does not receive magnesium sulfate, he receives a placebo which looks just like magnesium sulfate but contains no active medication. If the person leaves the hospital before the five days are over, the magnesium or placebo is stopped. Patients on the study will receive a brief exam in person or over the phone at one and three months after the injury to determine whether they have had any seizures and to evaluate how they are functioning and recovering from their head injury. Each evaluation will last about one hour. At six months after the injury, they will have full neuropsychological and psychosocial evaluations done at Harborview. These tests will take about five hours to complete and include tests of vocabulary, problem solving, and coordination. There will be questions about how the injury has affected the way they feel and interact socially. For example, there will be questions about their ability to work, manage personal affairs, what their moods are like, and how anger is handled.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • 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

    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98104
        • University of Washington

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

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT, CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Traumatic brain injury with post-resuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale of 3-12 or, if intubated, motor score of 1-5, or who require emergent neurosurgical intervention precluding the accurate assessment of Glasgow Coma Scale.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Injury greater than 8 hours old
  • Age under 14 years
  • Compromised renal function (creatinine of 2.0 mb/dl or greater)
  • Membership in a vulnerable population (e.g. pregnant woman, prisoner, etc.)
  • Residence making follow-up unlikely (e.g. lives outside U.S.)
  • Refusal to participate

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
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nancy Temkin, Ph.D., University of Washington

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.

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

August 1, 1998

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

May 1, 2005

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

May 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 25, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 25, 2000

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

February 28, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 28, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 26, 2011

Last Verified

October 1, 2011

More Information

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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