Calcium+Calcitriol Versus PTH for the Prevention of Hypocalcemia in Thyroidectomy. Randomized Clinical Trial

March 12, 2022 updated by: Alvaro Sanabria, Centro de Excelencia en Enfermedades de Cabeza y Cuello

Comparison of Routine Prophylactic Calcium + Calcitriol and Selective Use Based on PTH for the Prevention of Postoperative Hypocalcemia in Patients With Total Thyroidectomy. Randomized Clinical Trial

The objective of this study is to compare the frequency of post-thyroidectomy symptomatic and biochemical hypocalcaemia between the strategy of routine prophylactic calcium + calcitriol vs the administration of calcium guided by PTH values.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Postoperative hypocalcaemia is the most common complication that occurs in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy 1, with a frequency between 15 and 30%. 1-3 In the vast majority of cases, this complication is transitory, and only 1-3% manifest definitively. 4.5 Hypocalcemia is produced by surgical manipulation of the parathyroid glands, where their vascularization may be compromised, by stunning, or by inadvertent removal of the glands during thyroidectomy. 3,4 Other risk factors that have been associated include bilateral resection, inflammatory disease, and parathyroid reimplantation.1,6 Despite minimal manipulation during the surgical procedure, episodes of postoperative hypocalcemia continue to occur. To reduce the frequency of appearance and obtain symptomatic relief in the patient, several preventive strategies have been developed, 4,7-9 among which are the postoperative prophylactic administration of calcium + calcitriol 5,9 and the postoperative measurement of parathyroid hormone ( PTH) as a reference for oral calcium administration. 4,10 These strategies differ in the frequency of adverse events and cost. To date, these two interventions have not been directly compared in a clinical trial to determine which of them offers greater effectiveness and fewer adverse events and costs, and their use is made according to the individual preferences of the surgeon. A randomized clinical trial would offer information of high methodological quality for the standardization of conduct.

Research Question In a postoperative total thyroidectomy patient, is the calcium + calcitriol administration strategy based on postoperative PTH measurement superior to the routine prophylactic administration of calcium + calcitriol to reduce the frequency of symptomatic and postoperative biochemical hypocalcaemia?

Justification Postoperative hypocalcaemia is a condition that occurs in up to a third of postoperative total thyroidectomy patients. Hypocalcaemia worsens the clinical condition of the patient, implies prolongations of the hospital stay, readmissions and use of medications. 2,3,6 In addition to an adequate surgical technique, its prevention involves pharmacological interventions and diagnostic tests.

Among the alternatives currently used is the prophylactic administration of calcium and calcitriol for two weeks. 11 Despite being a cheap and safe strategy, it has uncomfortable side effects for the patient such as constipation, epigastric pain, metallic taste, loss of appetite and mood changes. 12,13 Due to this, several authors have proposed the measurement of calcium or PTH in the immediate postoperative period as a reference to decide the need for oral administration of calcium and calcitriol, thus avoiding unnecessary use in patients with normal values. 2,4,8,10,11 Theoretically, a measurement of PTH >10 pg/ml in the postoperative period would allow predicting patients who are at greater risk of developing hypocalcaemia than those who are not and can be discharged without taking calcium + calcitriol, but studies are very heterogeneous and difficult to compare with each other. 2.14 Recently, a meta-analysis evaluated the strategy of administration of calcium + calcitriol vs calcium measurement with advantages for the first 10, but there are few clinical trials that compare this strategy with postoperative PTH measurement. 14 Because this surgical group performs outpatient management after thyroidectomy, defining which of the two strategies offers greater effectiveness and a better profile of adverse events is of the utmost importance, as it would allow making general recommendations and adjusting current institutional protocols. On the other hand, the result of this trial would be a potential source of information to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of interventions in the future.

Aim: To compare the frequency of post-thyroidectomy symptomatic and biochemical hypocalcaemia between the strategy of routine prophylactic calcium + calcitriol vs the administration of calcium guided by PTH values.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

180

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

Study Locations

  • Colombia
    • Antioquia
      • Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia, 050010
        • IPS Universitaria
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Carlos Garcia, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Juan G Sanchez, MD

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:

- Patients undergoing total thyroidectomy who meet the following criteria: Patients over 18 years of age, Benign (goiter, thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism) or malignant (carcinoma) diagnosis, Patients who agree to participate in the study and sign the informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients with parathyroid surgery in conjunction with thyroidectomy, Patients with prior parathyroid disease for other causes (hyperparathyroidism primary or secondary to kidney disease, etc.), Patients with anaplastic carcinoma or lymphoma, Patients undergoing total thyroidectomy for causes other than thyroid disease such as, for example, total laryngectomy or pharyngo-laryngectomy that, due to margins or direct extension, require thyroidectomy. , Altered cognitive state that interfered or made the evaluation impossible.

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: calcium correction according to PTH levels
A PTH blood test will be performed 4 hours post-thyroidectomy.
Diagnostic test: calcium correction according to PTH levels
A PTH blood test will be performed 4 hours post-thyroidectomy. If the PTH result is >15 pg/mL, the patient will be discharged without calcium intake; if PTH < 15 pg/mL, start a dose of 1200 mg Calcium carbonate every 8 hours + 0.25 mcg of calcitriol every 12 hours orally for 15 days
Other Names:
  • PTH
Active Comparator: routine postoperative calcium and calcitriol
The patient will receive Calcium carbonate + calcitriol
Drug: routine postoperative calcium and calcitriol
The patient will receive a dose of 1,200 mg Calcium carbonate every 8 hours + 0.25 mcg of calcitriol every 12 hours orally for 15 days, starting on the same day as the intervention.
Other Names:
  • calcium carbonate, calcitriol

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
symptomatic hypocalcaemia
Time Frame: 15 days
The presence of symptomatic hypocalcaemia in the postoperative period of thyroidectomy defined according to the scale proposed by Wilde et al. (hypoparathyroid patient questionnaire HPQ) Min value 0 Max value 60 Higher scores represent worst symptoms
15 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Biochemical hypocalcemia
Time Frame: 48 hours and 15 days postoperatively
Biochemical hypocalcemia defined as serum calcium < 8 mg/dL or PTH < 15
48 hours and 15 days postoperatively
Adverse events of the medication
Time Frame: 15 days
Adverse events of the medication (calcium+calcitriol) included in the scale of Wilde et al.
15 days

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Centro de Excelencia en Enfermedades de Cabeza y Cuello

Collaborators

IPS universitaria

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alvaro Sanabria, MD, Centro de Excelencia en Enfermedades de Cabeza y Cuello

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 (Anticipated)

March 30, 2022

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

August 1, 2023

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 13, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 13, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

February 23, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 17, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2022

Last Verified

March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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