ciNPT in Autologous Abdominal Tissue Breast Reconstruction

July 22, 2021 updated by: McMaster University

Closed Incision Negative Pressure Therapy Compared to Conventional Dressing Following Autologous Abdominal Tissue Breast Reconstruction: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial

In women who undergo mastectomy for the treatment of breast cancer, autologous reconstruction using the deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap is a common surgical procedure that aims to restore both the appearance and texture of the breast(s). Specifically, this requires the transfer of skin, fat, and perforator vessels from the abdomen to a recipient artery and vein in the chest to create a viable breast mound. Post-operatively, the abdominal donor site is routinely monitored for wound dehiscence, which has a reported incidence of up to 39% in this patient population; however, this incidence typically varies from 3.5% to 14%.

At the investigators' academic institution, patients who undergo DIEP breast reconstruction typically have closed incision negative pressure therapy (ciNPT) or traditional tape dressings applied to the closed abdominal donor site. These dressings are selected according to surgeon preference and typically remain in-situ until hospital discharge. As there remains clinical equipoise regarding the ability of ciNPT to reduce abdominal wound dehiscence, further research in the form of a parallel, two-arm RCT is warranted.

The investigators propose a pilot study comparing ciNPT to standard tape dressings to the abdominal donor site incision for patients undergoing autologous DIEP breast reconstruction. As a pilot trial, the primary objective of the study is to assess feasibility outcomes. The design and conduct of the proposed pilot study will mirror the methodology of the definitive trial including randomization, interventions, and clinical outcomes. The secondary objective of this study is to evaluate clinical outcomes comparing ciNPT to standard tape dressings applied to the abdominal donor site incision. Clinical outcomes will include: 1) the incidence of abdominal wound dehiscence at 4 weeks following DIEP breast reconstruction; 2) the incidence of seroma formation and surgical site infection at 4 weeks; 3) quality of life as measured by BREAST-Q physical well-being abdomen and EQ-5D-5L pre-operatively, 1-month, 6-months, and 12-months postoperatively; 4) Scar appearance as measured by the SCAR-Q at 12-months postoperatively.

The pilot RCT will demonstrate feasibility of a definitive trial comparing ciNPT to standard tape dressings for the abdominal donor site of patients undergoing DIEP breast reconstruction. A priori hypotheses for each feasibility outcome will be:

  1. Eligibility: At least 90% of screened patients will be eligible.
  2. Recruitment: At least 85% of eligible patients will be enrolled. To be considered fully enrolled patients must sign the informed consent form, complete baseline demographic questionnaires, and be randomized to a study arm.
  3. Retention: At least 85% of randomized patients will complete the study, defined as completion of 12-month follow-up

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

24

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 Contact

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

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • adult female patients (≥ 18 years old)
  • consent to elective immediate (i.e. performed at the time of mastectomy) or delayed (i.e. performed following mastectomy) breast reconstruction using the DIEP flap

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients who are pregnant
  • have a documented/reported allergy to adhesive dressings

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ciNPT
Procedure: DIEP Breast Reconstruction
All patients enrolled in the study will undergo DIEP breast reconstruction and have their abdominal incision sutured according to routine clinical practice: 3-0 VICRYL ® suture (Ethicon, USA) for deep fascia closure, 4-0 MONOCRYL® suture (Ethicon, USA) for deep dermal closure, and 5-0 MONOCRYL® suture (Ethicon, USA) for subcuticular closure.
Device: ciNPT
Following closure of the abdominal donor site, the closed incision will be dressed with the ciNPT system [V.A.C.ULTA™ Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System (KCI, USA)] applied by the operating surgeon in a sterile fashion. The ciNPT device will be set at -125mmHg of continuous negative pressure for a period of 7 days or until patient discharge from hospital. Removal of the ciNPT dressing will be performed by the surgical team at the time of discharge. Following removal, no additional dressings will be applied to the abdominal incision unless clinically indicated secondary to dehiscence.
Active Comparator: Conventional tape dressings
Procedure: DIEP Breast Reconstruction
All patients enrolled in the study will undergo DIEP breast reconstruction and have their abdominal incision sutured according to routine clinical practice: 3-0 VICRYL ® suture (Ethicon, USA) for deep fascia closure, 4-0 MONOCRYL® suture (Ethicon, USA) for deep dermal closure, and 5-0 MONOCRYL® suture (Ethicon, USA) for subcuticular closure.
Other: Conventional Tape Dressings
Following closure of the abdominal donor site, the closed abdominal incision will be dressed with 1-inch Micropore™ Surgical Tape (3M, USA) with an alcohol swab applied to the tape for additional adhesion, by the operating surgeon in a sterile fashion. This dressing will remain in-situ for up to 7 days or until patient discharge from hospital. Removal of the traditional tape dressing will be performed by the surgical team at the time of discharge. Following removal, no additional dressings will be applied unless clinically indicated secondary to dehiscence.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of Patient Eligibility - Study Feasibility
Time Frame: 12 months
The percentage of patients that are eligible for the study among those that are screened will be recorded. This criteria will be determined to be feasible if at least 90% of screened patients are deemed to be eligible.
12 months
Percentage of Patient Recruitment - Study Feasibility
Time Frame: 12 months
The percentage of patients that are enrolled in the study among those determined to be eligible will be recorded. To be considered fully enrolled patients must sign the informed consent form, complete baseline demographic questionnaires, and be randomized to a study arm. This criteria will be determined to be feasible if at least 85% of eligible patients are recruited.
12 months
Percentage of Patient Retention - Study Feasibility
Time Frame: 12 months

The percentage of patients that complete the study among those that are randomized will be recorded. Completion of the study will be defined as completion of 12 month follow-up questionnaires. This criteria will be determined to be feasible if at least 85% of randomized patients complete the study.

As per Thabane et al., the investigators will collate the results of all three of the aforementioned primary outcomes to determine study eligibility. If all three criteria are met, the authors will decide that the study is feasible and continue without modifications. If one or more criteria is not met, the investigators will either decide to:

Stop - main study not feasible, or Continue, but modify protocol - feasible with modifications, or Continue without modifications, but monitor closely - feasible with close monitoring
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of participants with Abdominal Wall Dehiscence
Time Frame: 4 weeks
the between-group difference in the incidence of abdominal wound dehiscence- 'wound dehiscence' will be defined as the partial or full-thickness separation of the abdominal wound incision necessitating routine dressing changes, surgical debridement, or revision of the abdominal incision
4 weeks
Percentage of participants with Seroma Formation
Time Frame: 4 weeks
seroma formation - defined by the presence of a symptomatic, subcutaneous fluid collection (diagnosed clinically or by ultrasound per clinician judgement)
4 weeks
Percentage of participants with Surgical Site Infection
Time Frame: 4 weeks
surgical site infection - necessitating antibiotic administration (diagnosed clinically or by wound swab)
4 weeks
5-level EQ-5D version (EQ-5D-5L) - Patient Quality of Life
Time Frame: 12 months
The EQ-5D-5L essentially consists of 2 pages: the EQ-5D descriptive system and the EQ visual analogue scale (EQ VAS). This scale is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) designed to measure overall health status. The EQ-5D measures 5 health states measured from 1-5, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. An overall score can be generated from this with the best health at the minimum score of 5, and the worst health state at the maximum score of 25. The EQ VAS is an analogue scale from 0-100, with 100 being the best health and 0 being the worst health that you can imagine.
12 months
BREAST-Q physical well-being abdomen - Patient Quality of Life
Time Frame: 12 months
The BREAST-Q physical well-being abdomen is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) designed to measure the negative physical sequelae of the abdomen following autologous tissue reconstruction. Total scores are converted to an equivalent Rasch transformed score from 0 to 100. 0 represents the worst outcome and 100 represents the best outcome.
12 months
SCAR-Q - Patient Quality of Life
Time Frame: 12 months
The BREAST-Q physical well-being abdomen is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) designed to measure the the appearance, symptoms, and psychosocial impact of scars. Total scores are converted to an equivalent Rasch transformed score from 0 to 100. 0 represents the worst outcome and 100 represents the best outcome.
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

McMaster University

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

Helpful Links

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 (Anticipated)

October 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

October 1, 2022

Study Completion (Anticipated)

October 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 5, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 22, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

August 2, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 2, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 22, 2021

Last Verified

June 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 13155

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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