Parafilm to Prevent CLABSI in Pediatric Patients Undergoing HCT

Parafilm Application to Prevent Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

The purpose of this study is to see if applying parafilm as an external barrier on the central line in children having a bone marrow transplant helps to prevent central line associated bloodstream infection(s) and also to assess the ease of use of parafilm.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI); Bone Marrow Transplant
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Parafilm

Detailed Description

Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) result in significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). HCT patients are at high risk for CLABSI due to multiple factors, including prolonged immune suppression and the need for long-term central venous access. The investigators want to assess the feasibility of the use of a parafilm central line barrier (parafilm) as standard of care in pediatric HCT patients. The investigators will also assess the effectiveness of the parafilm to reduce the incidence of CLABSI in these patients.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 119
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Georgia
    • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
      • Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 21 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be between the age of 0 and 21 years at the time of enrollment
• Must be undergoing allogeneic or autologous HCT for a malignant or non-malignant disorder
• Must have or be scheduled to have a tunneled CVC

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients undergoing other interventions to prevent CLABSI (e.g. Children's Oncology Group (COG) study ACCL1034 with Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG); antimicrobial lock therapy, etc.)
• Patients who only have a port

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Parafilm; Pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) with central venous catheters (CVCs) will have pre-cut, single-use sections of parafilm applied over the CVC hub (if not connected) or around the CVC hub connection (if connected). Parafilm will be maintained on the CVC and routine CVC care will be continued, per institutional standard of practice, until the CVC is removed.	Device: Parafilm; Single-use, pre-cut sections of parafilm over the central venous catheter (CVC) hub (if not connected) or around the CVC hub connection (if connected). Parafilm will be maintained on the CVC until it is removed.
No Intervention: Historical Cohort; Pediatric patients receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation in the 16 months preceding the study intervention. Data were obtained retrospectively through medical records for the purpose of comparing CLABSI rates among recipients of parafilm to a control group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rate of Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI)	Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) is the identification of a bacterial infection from a blood culture drawn from a central venous catheter (CVC) in the absence of a primary source of infection from another body site. The CLABSI rate (total number of CLABSI/1000 catheter-days) in parafilm study participants will be calculated and compared to the CLABSI rate in a historical cohort of pediatric patients who are serving as a control group.	Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)
Reported Inpatient Percentage of Central-line Days With Correctly Applied Parafilm	In the inpatient setting, compliance was measured by once daily recording of parafilm change by nursing in the electronic medical record. These data were significantly limited by electronic medical record charting on parafilm change being required only once per day. Thus, once daily data collection failed to capture daily parafilm change, given multiple nursing shifts on a single calendar day. Nonetheless, the percentage of catheter-days with intact correctly applied parafilm, as reported by nursing staff, was calculated.	At discharge (an expected average of 6 weeks from admission)
Observed Inpatient Percentage of Catheter-days With Correctly Applied Parafilm	Observed compliance occurred during weekly line rounds. Rounding providers indicated whether a patient's parafilm is intact and correctly applied, not applied, or incorrectly applied or not intact. The percentage of "observed catheter-days" where patients had correct use of intact parafilm were to be calculated. To track observed inpatient compliance with applying parafilm, data fields were added to the entered to the nursing charts of the participant's electronic medical record (EMR). The primary field added was a no/question about parafilm applied. Per study protocol, the intent was to document nursing changing of the parafilm, at the time it was changed. However, on reviewing the data, it appears that nursing just charted once per day whether they had changed parafilm or not, while the parafilm may have been changed earlier by a different nurse.	Time between initial bone marrow transplant (BMT) discharge and either central venous line (CVL) removal or transfer back to primary MD (an expected average of 2-3 months)
Reported Outpatient Percentage of Catheter-days With Correctly Applied Parafilm	For outpatient reported compliance, parents of study participants provided their logs to outpatient staff who documented the number of days parafilm was correctly in use/intact vs not in use or incorrectly in use/not intact. The cumulative percentage of catheter-days where parafilm was intact was calculated.	Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)
Observed Outpatient Percentage of Catheter-days With Correctly Applied Parafilm	For observed compliance, the outpatient nurse recorded whether the patient's parafilm was correctly applied/intact (yes), not applied (no), or incorrectly applied/not intact (yes-inc) at the beginning of the visit. The percentage of outpatient "observed catheter-days" where parafilm was correctly in use/intact was calculated.	Time between initial BMT discharge and either CVL removal or transfer back to primary MD (an expected average of 2-3 months)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Antibiotic Treatment Courses Per Participant	The number of antibiotic treatment courses per participant in the parafilm study will be recorded.	Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)
Duration of Antibiotic Treatment Exposure	Total duration of antibiotic treatment exposure (excluding prophylactic antibiotics) among participants in the parafilm study will be reported.	Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)
Number of ICU Admissions Secondary to Sepsis	The cumulative number of ICU admissions secondary to sepsis among participants in the parafilm study is reported.	Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)
Death	Deaths from infection and death from any cause among participants in the parafilm study are reported.	Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)
Perception of Parafilm	The perception of parafilm from provider and caregiver surveys regarding parafilm ease of use, perceived benefit, and other parameters will be reported	Month 3 (average time till removal of CVC)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Emory University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Stenger EO, Newton JG, Leong T, Kendrick L, McManus L, Rooke C, Krishnamurti L. Application of parafilm as a physical barrier on CVC connections is feasible and may reduce CLABSI among pediatric HCT patients. Biology of Blood Marrow Transplantation 25 (Suppl 3): S131, 2019.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 29, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): March 29, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 12, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 12, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): October 14, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 25, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 6, 2019
• Last Verified: June 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome; Inflammation; Sepsis; Infections
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB00080344

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No