Irradiated Blood Versus Non Irradiated Blood Transfusions in Craniosynostosis Repair

October 17, 2018 updated by: Neil Raj Singhal, Valley Anesthesiology Consultants

The Affect of Radiated Versus Non-Irradiated Blood on Extracellular Potassium Levels in Infants Undergoing Craniosynostosis Repair

Blood transfusions are required for patients undergoing a craniosynostosis repair due to the significant amount of blood loss. Irradiated or non-irradiated transfusions have many risks involved including elevated potassium levels and graft versus host disease (TA-GVHD). Irradiated blood is able to destroy the leukocytes responsible for TA-GVHD, but it adversely causes elevated extracellular potassium due to hemolysis of the RBC's. When this blood is transfused, it may introduce too much extracellular potassium (> 6.5 meq/L) into the patient causing interference with the heart's conduction system significantly increasing the risk for hemodynamic changes, cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiac arrest. Hyperkalemia from rapid transfusions occurs much more frequently than TA-GVHD; however, both complications are under-reported.

The study aims to evaluate the risk of irradiated versus non-irradiated blood in patients under the age of 6 months undergoing a craniosynostosis repair. This will be done by comparing the levels of extracellular potassium pre-transfusion, during transfusion, immediately after transfusion, and 30 minutes after the completion of transfusion. The investigators hypothesize that the patients who receive irradiated blood will have an increased extracellular potassium level compared to those who receive non-irradiated blood.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Patients between the ages of 2 to 6 months of age and undergo a sagittal synostosis repair will split into two groups to participate in a prospective pilot study. The purpose of this study is to examine the extracellular potassium levels in patients who receive irradiated blood versus non-irradiated blood. Enrollment will occur over a 24 month period or until 20 patients are enrolled. The patient names, medical record numbers and any other identifiers will be kept strictly confidential.

Patients will receive irradiated or non-irradiated blood based on their age. Patients under 4 months of age will receive irradiated blood products, as per hospital protocol, while patients over 4 months of age will receive non-irradiated blood products.

Patients will receive standard surgical practice for their craniosynostosis repair and will receive the blood transfusion at the discretion of the anesthesiologist and surgeon. All the blood that is transfused will be analyzed prior to transfusion. The patient's extracellular potassium levels will be recorded pre-transfusion, at 30 minute intervals during the transfusion, and post-transfusion. The collected data will be compared to test for correlation between extracellular potassium levels, the type of blood transfused, and the amount of calcium that is administered.

There is minimal risk of harm associated with the study. All surgical procedures run their typical risk of infection, bleeding or any other complication that could occur during or after the operation. The blood transfusions may also increase patient's risk of graft versus host disease, hyperkalemia, or cardiac anomalies. These cases will be documented and responded to according to anesthesiologist and surgeon's preference.

Materials and information necessary to carry out this experiment include: patient age, sex, weight, type of blood transfused (ABO and non-irradiated/irradiated), vital signs, operating time, amount of blood lost, adverse events, and length of stay.

Patients who decline participation in the study will have no change in their anesthetic or post-operative care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

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

    • Arizona
      • Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85016
        • Phoenix Children's 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

2 months to 6 months (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Must be between 2-6 m/o
  • Must be undergoing a craniosynostosis repair
  • Must require a blood transfusion

Exclusion Criteria:

  • n/a

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: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Patients under 4 months Receive Irradiated Blood
Patients under 4 months of age will receive irradiated blood products, as per hospital protocol. The patient's extracellular potassium levels will be recorded pre-transfusion, at 30 minute intervals during the transfusion, and post-transfusion. The collected data will be compared to test for correlation between extracellular potassium levels, the type of blood transfused, and the amount of calcium that is administered.
Same as arm description - need to collect extracellular potassium values.
Experimental: Patients Over 4 Months Recieve Non-Irradiated Blood
Patients over 4 months of age will receive non-irradiated blood products. The patient's extracellular potassium levels will be recorded pre-transfusion, at 30 minute intervals during the transfusion, and post-transfusion. The collected data will be compared to test for correlation between extracellular potassium levels, the type of blood transfused, and the amount of calcium that is administered.
Same as arm description - need to collect extracellular potassium values.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in extracellular potassium values.
Time Frame: immediately after transfusion and 30 minutes after the end of transfusion
We hope to determine if irradiated blood will pose a greater risk for hyperkalemia than non-irradiated blood products. This will be done by looking at potassium values immediately after transfusion and again 30 minutes after the end of transfusion.
immediately after transfusion and 30 minutes after the end of transfusion

Collaborators and Investigators

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

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.

General Publications

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, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 11, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

May 11, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 22, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 24, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

June 29, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 19, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 17, 2018

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

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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