Magnesium vs Placebo for Tonsillectomy

Systemic Magnesium to Improve Postoperative Pain in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Tonsillectomy: A Randomized, Double Blinded, Placebo Controlled Trial

This study is a double-blind randomized controlled trial using intravenous magnesium versus placebo to determine if systemic magnesium can decrease postoperative pain in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy.

Participants will be in one of two arms. Those in Arm 1 will receive magnesium (30 mg/kg bolus followed by a 10mg/kg/hr infusion) while those in Arm 2 will receive an equal volume of normal saline bolus followed by infusion (placebo).

The primary objective is to determine if systemic magnesium will decrease postoperative pain in patients undergoing tonsillectomy. The secondary objectives will determine if systemic magnesium administration is associated with a decrease in opioid-related side effects, decrease the incidence of emergence delirium, and improve postoperative functional recovery.

The study hypothesis is that the use of intravenous magnesium will decrease postoperative pain, decrease opioid-related side effects, decrease the incidence of emergence delirium, and improve functional recovery in patients undergoing tonsillectomy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Normal saline; Drug: Magnesium

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
      • Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 years to 10 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients aged 4-10 years old undergoing tonsillectomy by a single surgeon and under the care of that participating surgeon
• American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) patient classification of I-III

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physical or developmental delay
• Psychiatric illness
• Current use of sedative or anticonvulsant medication
• Pre-existing renal disease
• Pre-existing cardiovascular disease
• Regular use of analgesic medication
• Having other procedures in addition to tonsillectomy (however, patients undergoing adenoidectomy with their tonsillectomy will be included in the study)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Magnesium; Intravenous magnesium. After IV placed intraoperatively, a bolus dose of magnesium 30 mg/kg is given over 15 minutes, followed by a continuous infusion of magnesium at 10 mg/kg/hr until the completion of the procedure.	Drug: Magnesium
Placebo Comparator: Placebo infusion; Intravenous normal saline will be given as placebo. An equal amount of volume normal saline will be given intravenously as the control group.	Drug: Normal saline

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Postoperative Pain	Postoperative pain will be measured at 15 minute time intervals in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Pain scores will be evaluated using a standardized validated scale (the Faces Pain Scale Revised (FPS-R)). The Faces Pain Scale is a validated, patient reported, 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable) numeric rating scale. Pain scores will be multiplied by the time spent at each pain score for a calculated "Area Under the Curve" value, ranging from 0 to 900, with lower values indicating more favorable and lower pain scores.	90 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Postoperative Pain Medication	Amount of rescue postoperative pain medication needed in the recovery room will be tabulated.	90 minutes
Postoperative Pain at Home	Postoperative pain at home will be measured using the Parent's Post-Operative Pain Measure (PPPM) questionnaire on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7. The PPPM gives a score to child behavior which suggests they are in pain after surgery with scores ranging from 0 to 15 with lower values suggesting better pain outcome.	7 days
Emergence Delirium	The incidence of emergence delirium determined using the pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) scale while the patient is in the PACU. The PAED scale ranges from scores of 0 to 20, with lower scores indicating less agitation, more awareness, less aggressiveness, and a more favorable outcome in the post-anesthesia recovery period.	5 minutes after awakening in the recovery room
Number of Patients With Postoperative Vomiting	The incidence of postoperative vomiting will be measured while in the recovery room.	90 minutes
Respiratory Depression	The incidence of the presence of respiratory depression will be measured while the patient is in the recovery room.	90 minutes
Time to PACU Discharge	The time to fulfilling discharge criteria, in minutes, from the PACU will be recorded	Approximately 90 minutes
Parent Satisfaction	Parent satisfaction will be assessed on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7. This will be determined by asking the parents one question about their satisfaction with the overal anesthetic care on a numeric rating scale of 1 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction and better outcome.	7 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hubert A Benzon, MD, MPH, Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 12, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 14, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): August 18, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 3, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 13, 2018
• Last Verified: December 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2014MagRCT