The AOT (Acridine Orange and Taurolidine) Trial

February 10, 2009 updated by: Radboud University Medical Center

The AOT (Acridine Orange and Taurolidine) Trial: a Survey on Diagnosis and Prevention of Catheter-Related Infections in Patients on Home Parenteral Nutrition

Total parenteral (intravenous) nutrition in the home setting (Home TPN or HPN) is a life saving strategy in patients who suffer from severe intestinal failure. Unfortunately, this treatment modality remains complicated by the development of frequent infectious complications. This especially relates to the device that is used to establish venous access, mostly a catheter (Hickman-Broviac type) or a port-a-cath.

Taurolodine is an antimicrobial agent without any known side effects or resistance-related problems that holds promise as an effective antibiotic lock solution to prevent catheter infections, as demonstrated recently in a pilot study in HPN patients [Jurewitsch, 2005].

In addition, recently a test has been described which may enable to confirm a suspected diagnosis of central line infection within one hour, the so-called Acridine Orange Leukocyte Cytospin test (AOLC) [Bong, 2003]. For this test, blood that is drawn from the central line is stained with the fluorescent dye acridine orange. Next, microscopic evaluation for the presence of micro-organisms takes place. Implementation of this test might enable to start treatment of the infection and prevent unnecessary removal of non-infected central lines without the necessity to several days wait for culture results.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Two hypotheses will be tested in the AOT trial:

  1. The use of taurolidine as an antibiotic lock (5 mL) to flush the central line after infusing the TPN formulation, when compared to the present use of heparin solution (5 mL, 150 E/mL) decreases the rate of catheter-related infections in HPN patients
  2. Implementation of the acridine orange staining test allows an earlier diagnosis (or rejection of this diagnosis) compared to culture results. Importantly, in the present trial the results of this test will not be used for treatment decisions.

To this end, patients who are admitted to the clinical ward because of suspected central line infection (mostly because of fever and/or chills) will be treated according to the current protocol for catheter sepsis, after obtaining central line and peripheral blood cultures. This protocol includes the administration of medicinase through the central line and i.v. antibiotics peripherally. After obtaining informed consent, in addition 5 cc of EDTA blood will be drawn from the central line to perform (within 24 hours) the acridine orange cytospin staining test and a Gram stain. These results will than be compared to the culture results. Based on culture results, the antibiotics will be tailored.

If the patient recovers and TPN administration can be restarted, randomisation between heparin lock (5 mL, 150 E/mL) versus taurolidine lock solution 2% (5 mL) will take place. In case the catheter has to be removed because of ongoing or recurrent sepsis, randomisation takes place after a new central line has been placed and the patient continues on TPN.

A new episode of proven catheter sepsis is considered as the primary end-point.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

60

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

      • Nijmegen, Netherlands, 6500 HB
        • Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology clinical ward

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)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • informed consent
  • patient on home TPN with central line (Hickman or Porth-a-cath)
  • suspected central line infection (acridine orange test)
  • proven central line infection (randomisation tauroline vs heparin)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • no informed consent
  • patient on home TPN with arteriovenous fistula (shunt)

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
time between episodes of central line infection in one patient

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
outcome of acridine orange staining test compared to culture results

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Geert Wanten, MD, PhD, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands

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

June 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 2, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

May 3, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 11, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2009

Last Verified

February 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

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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