Study of Intramuscular Ropivacaine Injections for Treatment of Pediatric Headache

February 22, 2018 updated by: Robert Hickey

Is Paraspinal Intramuscular Ropivacaine Injection an Effective Treatment for Headache in a Pediatric Emergency Department?

Objective: To determine if lower paracervical intramuscular ropivacaine injection is an effective treatment for pediatric headache in an emergency department setting.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Methods: The study will be a double-blind randomized control trial. Patients will be randomly assigned to receive either intramuscular injection of the lower cervical paraspinous muscles with 1 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine on each side, placebo injections with 1 mL normal saline on each side, or no intervention at all. If randomized to an injection, the investigator and the patient will both be blinded as to the nature of the injection.

The location of the child's pain as well as severity will be assessed immediately prior to intervention and every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. If after 30 minutes relief is insufficient for discharge to home, intravenous treatment will be instituted according to current protocol. Pain will be reassessed at the time of ultimate disposition. The scale used to assess severity will vary based on the child's age.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

150

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

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

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Chief complaint of headache
  • Age 7-17 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of fever
  • meningismus
  • headache that wakes the child at night
  • known organic brain disease, mass, or tumor
  • history of stroke
  • history of allergy to ropivacaine or other aminoacyl local anesthetics
  • history of liver disease
  • history of impaired cardiac function
  • abnormal neurologic signs
  • a focal neurologic abnormality on exam that is not a known component of the child's headache syndrome
  • cognitive inability to communicate the intensity of pain.
  • history of shunt or other intracranial hardware

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: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Ropivacaine Injections
Intramuscular injection of the lower cervical paraspinous muscles with 1.5 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine on each side.
Drug: Ropivacaine
1.5 mL IM to each side in to the lower cervical paraspinous muscles x 1.
Placebo Comparator: Normal Saline Injections
Intramuscular injection of the lower cervical paraspinous muscles with 1.5 mL of normal saline on each side.
Drug: Normal saline
1.5 mL IM to each side in to the lower cervical paraspinous muscles x 1.
No Intervention: Observation
Observation for 30 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The Primary Outcome Will be Pain Relief Sufficient for Discharge From the Emergency Department.
Time Frame: 30 minutes
30 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Number and Percent of Patients Admitted to the Hospital for Additional Therapy in Each Treatment Arm Based Upon Treating Clinicians Decision
Time Frame: 3 hours
3 hours
Re-presentation to the Emergency Department With Headache Within 72 Hours of Participating in the Study
Time Frame: 72 hours
72 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Robert Hickey

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Susan Sieminski, MD, University of Pittsburgh

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

January 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 16, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 19, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

May 20, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 26, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 22, 2018

Last Verified

February 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PRO08030283

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

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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