Beta Blockade in in Traumatic Brain Injury

June 1, 2020 updated by: University of Tennessee

Beta-Adrenergic Blockade for Suppression of Catecholamine Surge Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Trial

The purpose of this study is test the effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury with the hypothesis being that the addition of beta blockade to the treatment regime of this patient population will lower mortality and supress the catecholamine surge that accompanies traumatic brain injury as compared to those who do not receive beta blockade.

Half the patients will be randomized to receive propranolol and half will be randomized to receive no beta blocker.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The use of Beta-adrenergic blockade is not currently the standard of care of patients with traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury is a common problem in our society with greater than 1.5 million cases occurring annually and over 50,000 deaths per year in the civilian population in the United States. Medical therapy has long consisted of monitoring intracranial pressure and supportive measures designed to limit intracranial pressure. Two retrospective observational studies completed at the University of Tennessee demonstrate that the addition of beta-adrenergic blockage to the treatment of the traumatic brain injury lessens mortality. The basis for conducting this study was established by retrospective data showing no harm to patients receiving Inderal and potential benefit. Available data, including data from the University of Tennessee, are retrospective and are limited to simple exposure to the drug. The proposed study will attempt to further quantify the effect by dosing with the drug to actual beta-blockade instead of simple exposure to the drug.

The effect of propranolol at the dosing levels used in this research will be determined by measurement of urinary catecholamines in both study arms and comparison of the actual effect of the drug on the catecholamine surge that occurs following traumatic brain injury will be determined.

Additionally, the effect of healthcare disparities on outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury will be measured. Outcomes will be stratified by payer status and ethnicity to determine the effect each of these variables has on outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

26

Phase

  • Phase 4

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
    • Tennessee
      • Memphis, Tennessee, United States, 38103
        • Regional One Health

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects ages 18 and older with isolated traumatic brain injury as defined by Glasgow Coma Scale score 12 or less with documented injury on head CT and limited injury to the rest of the body. (Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) must be < or = 3 from other body areas.)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects <18 years of age, prisoners, those on beta-blockers as home medication, those who are pregnant, those with severe liver disease, those taking vasopressors, those with acute coronary syndrome, and those with severe injury to another body region (AIS >3).
  • Subjects who cannot be enrolled within 48 hours of admission following acute resuscitation will not be enrolled into this study.

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Propranolol arm
One half of qualifying and consenting subjects will be randomized to receive propranolol. This group will receive study drug 3 times daily (every 8 hours) starting at 20 mg. The dosage may be increased by up to 60 mg/day divided over three daily doses (or an additional 20 mg/dose) as necessary until the heart rate is less than 100. Study drug will be held for hypotension (systolic <100) or bradycardia (heart rate <60 beats per minute). The maximum daily dose for the treatment of hypertension of 640 mg will not be exceeded in this study.
Drug: Propranolol
Other Names:
  • Inderal
No Intervention: Non propranolol arm
Non beta blockade arm will receive standard of care treatment and will not receive beta blockade. If a subject randomized to no Inderal develops hypertension and increased heart rate, he/she will be treated according to standard of care by the trauma team caring for the patient.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mortality
Time Frame: 30 day
Mortality will be assessed at day 30 or at hospital discharge
30 day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Urine Catecholamine Levels
Time Frame: Collected at baseline, Day 2, Day 5, Day 10 and Day 14.
Urine catecholamine levels will be measured in the hospital laboratory
Collected at baseline, Day 2, Day 5, Day 10 and Day 14.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Tennessee

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Thomas J. Schroeppel, MD, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

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 (Actual)

January 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 31, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

November 6, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 1, 2020

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB # 15-04069-FB

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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