Optimal Dose of Prophylactic Naloxone in Reducing Opioid-Induced Side Effects in Children/Adolescents

July 18, 2017 updated by: Johns Hopkins University

The Optimal Dose of Prophylactic Naloxone in Ameliorating Opioid Induced Side Effects in Children and Adolescents Receiving Intravenous Patient Controlled Analgesia (IVPCA) Morphine for Moderate to Severe Pain: A Pharmacodynamic, Pharmacokinetic, and Pharmacogenetic Study

This is an investigator initiated dose finding study designed to determine the optimal dose of naloxone to prevent or minimize the most common side effects induced by opioids, namely itching, nausea, and vomiting. Male and female inpatients of the Children's Center of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, who are greater than 6 and less than 18 years of age with acute, moderate to severe pain, and who are to be treated with intravenous Patient controlled analgesia (IVPCA) morphine will be eligible for inclusion in this study. Patients will be recruited by a study investigator prior to the initiation of IVPCA therapy. The majority of patients will be post operative patients, and will start therapy and the investigational drug in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit or the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The investigators plan on studying between 10 and 99, male and female patients over a 2 year period.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In patients of all ages, opioids are the cornerstone of management of moderate to severe pain. Regardless of method of administration, all opioids produce unwanted side effects, including pruritus, nausea and vomiting, constipation, urinary retention, cognitive impairment, tolerance, dependence, and (rarely) respiratory depression. Based on the results of a previously completed randomized controlled trial, children and adolescents with moderate to severe pain, are now routinely treated in the Children's Center of the Johns Hopkins Hospital with a low dose naloxone infusion (0.25 mcg/kg/HOUR) whenever morphine intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IVPCA) or parent/nurse controlled analgesia (IVPNCA) is initiated. Although the previous study showed a marked reduction in the incidence and severity of pruritus and nausea, approximately a third of the patients still experience these side effects. The primary purpose of this study is to reduce this failure rate by determining if there is an optimal dose of naloxone to prevent opioid induced side effects as determined by a dose finding classic up down dose escalation method. The second aim is to determine the pharmacokinetics of morphine and naloxone and their metabolites at each of the naloxone infusion rates attempted. The investigators will measure morphine, naloxone, and their metabolites using a liquid chromatographic-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometric method (LC/MS/MS). The final aim is to determine the pharmacogenetics of responders and non-responders using DNA isolated from patient blood. To accomplish this the investigators will need a single blood collection from patients currently being treated with IVPCA morphine and low dose intravenous naloxone.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

75

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
        • John Hopkins 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

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male and female patients greater than 6 and less than 18 years of age with acute, moderate to severe pain who are to start treatment with IVPCA morphine as inpatients of the Children's Center of the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients who require concomitant benzodiazepine administration
  • allergic to opioids
  • have been in an investigational drug trial within 1 month
  • received opioids with in 7 days of the study
  • parent with psychiatric illness which impairs their ability to provide consent parent who does not speak English

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Naloxone
continuous infusion of naloxone administered in escalating dosing from 0.05 mcg/kg/hr to 1.65 mcg/kg/hour
continuous infusion of naloxone administered in escalating dosing from 0.05 mcg/kg/hr to 1.65 mcg/kg/hour

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Naloxone Side Effects
Time Frame: 0-48 hours after infusion begins
incidence of nausea, vomiting, pruritus following naloxone infusion
0-48 hours after infusion begins

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Myron Yaster, MD, Johns Hopkins 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.

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

May 1, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 24, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 25, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

May 26, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 19, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 18, 2017

Last Verified

July 1, 2017

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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