Optimizing Early Nutrition Support in Severe Stroke-2

March 16, 2026 updated by: Wen Jiang-3

Trophic Enteral Feeding Combined With Supplemental Parenteral Nutrition Treatment in Patients With Severe Stroke (OPENS-2): a Multicentre, Prospective, Randomised, Open-label, Blinded-endpoint Trial

Post stroke pneumonia (PSP) is one of the common early complications of stroke. Post-stroke infections, in general, are associated with less favorable neurologic outcomes. Aspiration is one of the most feared complications of enteral nutrition and can lead to the occurrence of pneumonia. Severe stroke patients are at high risk for aspiration due to some factors such as the reduced level of consciousness, inability to protect the airway and so on. The purpose of this study is to explore the ideal nutrition support strategy for patient with acute severe stroke to help reduce the incidence of PSP and improve the prognosis.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

As one of the most common complication of stroke, some studies showed that post-stroke pneumonia (PSP) in stroke patients requiring intensive care is associated with an increase of ICU length of stay and hospital mortality and poorer functional outcomes in survivors. The peak period of PSP is within the first week after stroke. Aspiration and poor nutritional status are important factors leading to pneumonia in stroke patients. Compared with full enteral nutrition (EN), initial trophic enteral feeding was associated with less gastrointestinal intolerance and could reduce the rate of regurgitation. However, trophic enteral feeding could not meet the daily caloric needs and hypocaloric enteral nutrition might be associated with increased mortality. This study is designed to explore whether initial trophic enteral nutrition combined with supplemental parenteral nutrition (SPN) can help reduce the incidence of PSP and improve the prognosis in severe patients with stroke.

This study will enroll 546 severe stroke patients who meet the inclusion criteria. Upon admission to the ICU, patients will be randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio into groups of full enteral feeding (controlled) and trophic enteral feeding combined with supplemental parenteral feeding (experimented) for 7 days.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

546

Phase

  • Phase 3

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 Contact Backup

Study Locations

    • Chongqing Municipality
      • Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality, China, 404100
        • Recruiting
        • Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital
        • Contact:
      • Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality, China
        • Recruiting
        • Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University
        • Contact:
          • Meng Zhang
    • Gansu
      • Lanzhou, Gansu, China
        • Recruiting
        • Gansu Provincal Central Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Rong Yin
    • Guangdong
      • Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
        • Recruiting
        • The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
        • Contact:
          • Lixin Wang
      • Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University
        • Contact:
          • Suyue Pan
    • Guizhou
      • Guiyang, Guizhou, China, 550000
        • Recruiting
        • The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University
        • Contact:
    • Henan
      • Zhengzhou, Henan, China
        • Recruiting
        • First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University
        • Contact:
          • Wenjing Deng
    • Hubei
      • Wuhan, Hubei, China
        • Recruiting
        • Tongji Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Furong Wang
    • Hunan
      • Changsha, Hunan, China
        • Not yet recruiting
        • The First Hospital of Changsha City
        • Contact:
          • Hong Tan
    • Jiangxi
      • Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, 330000
        • Recruiting
        • The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University
        • Contact:
    • Ningxia
      • Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, 750000
        • Recruiting
        • General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University
        • Contact:
    • Shaanxi
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, 710000
        • Recruiting
        • The First Affiliated Hospital Of Xi'an Jiaotong University
        • Contact:
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
        • Recruiting
        • The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Medical University
        • Contact:
          • Bei Zhang
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
        • Recruiting
        • Xi'an No.3 Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Mingze Chang
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, 710000
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Tangdu Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Jun Guo, PhD
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, 710000
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Xi'an Central Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Zhengli Di, PhD
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
        • Recruiting
        • Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital
        • Contact:
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Shannxi Provincal People's Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Hua Lv
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
        • Recruiting
        • Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital
        • Contact:
      • Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, 710000
        • Recruiting
        • Shaanxi Second Provincal People's Hospital
        • Contact:
      • Xianyang, Shaanxi, China
        • Recruiting
        • The First People's Hospital of Xianyang
        • Contact:
          • Liping Yu
      • Xianyang, Shaanxi, China, 712000
        • Recruiting
        • Xianyang Hospital, Yan'an University
        • Contact:
      • Yulin, Shaanxi, China
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Yulin No.1 Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Yongfeng Huang
      • Yulin, Shaanxi, China
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Yulin No.2 Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Xue Li
    • Shandong
      • Jinan, Shandong, China
        • Recruiting
        • The Second Hospital of Shandong University
        • Contact:
          • Wei Shang
      • Jinan, Shandong, China
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Qilu Hospital of Shangdong University
        • Contact:
          • Qinzhou Wang
      • Jinan, Shandong, China
        • Recruiting
        • The PLA 960 Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Huaiqiang Hu
      • Liaocheng, Shandong, China, 252000
        • Recruiting
        • Liaocheng People's Hospital
        • Contact:
    • Xinjiang
      • Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China, 830000
        • Recruiting
        • People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
        • Contact:
      • Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China, 830000
        • Recruiting
        • The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University
        • 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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age≥18 years
  2. Definite diagnosis of acute stroke (GCS ≤12 or NIHSS≥11)
  3. The randomized nutritional treatment could be initiated up to 72 hours after symptom onset.
  4. Any cases of profiles #3 through 5 in Water Swallowing Test or with disorder of consciousness.
  5. Plan to receive nutritional support treatment for at least 7 days.
  6. Informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Receiving parenteral nutrition support
  2. Contraindications of enteral nutrition
  3. Complicated with the disease which only have life expectancy < 7 days
  4. Admission with infection signs
  5. Dementia or severe disability (mRS>4) before stroke
  6. Antibiotics were used within the previous 7 days
  7. Subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral arteriovenous malformation
  8. Presence of coexisting medical conditions that could interfere with outcome assessment and/or follow-up (a. advanced cancer; b. severe pulmonary dysfunction [forced expiratory volume in 1 second < 50% or/and moderate to severe acute lung injury (PaO2/FiO2)<200mmHg]; c. cardiac insufficiency (NYHA class > I; cardiac structural and/or functional abnormalities such as EF< 50%, abnormal cardiac chamber enlargement, moderate/severe ventricular hypertrophy, or moderate/severe valvular stenosis); d. Severe liver failure [Child-Pugh score≥7]; e. Severe renal failure [glomerular filtration rate ≤30mL/min or serum creatinine ≥4mg/dL]
  9. Currently participating in other clinical trial
  10. Pregnant woman
  11. Patient who is considered highly likely not to adhere to the study treatment or follow-up protocol.

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Full enteral feeding
Patients will receive full enteral feeding through nasogastric tube or nasointestinal tube.
The caloric goal of the first day is one-third of caloric requirements, the second day is half of caloric requirements, the third day is 70-100% and sustained for 1 week. Protein requirements are calculated at 1.2 to 1.5 g per kilogram of body weight per day. Enteral nutrition is given through nasogastric tube or nasointestinal tube.
Experimental: Trophic enteral feeding combined with supplemental parenteral nutrition
Patients will receive trophic enteral feeding combined with supplemental parenteral feeding.
The caloric goal of the first day is one-third of caloric requirements, the second day is half of caloric requirements, the third day is 70-100% and sustained for 1 week. Patients will receive the trophic enteral feeding with a caloric target of 500kcal/d (20-35ml/h), and the remaining calories are supplemented by parenteral nutrition. Protein requirements are calculated at 1.2 to 1.5 g per kilogram of body weight per day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Incidence of post stroke pneumonia
Time Frame: up to 7 days
up to 7 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The time from randomisation to the onset of the post stroke pneumonia
Time Frame: up to 7 days
up to 7 days
Daily calorie delivery
Time Frame: up to 7 days
up to 7 days
Daily protein delivery
Time Frame: up to 7 days
up to 7 days
The incidence of gastrointestinal complications
Time Frame: up to 7 days
Vomiting, diarrhea, gastric retention, gastrointestinal bleeding
up to 7 days
The use of prokinetic agents
Time Frame: up to 7 days
The usage rate of prokinetic agents
up to 7 days
The occurrence of infections
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The rate and onset time of infections from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
The length of ICU stay
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
Mortality
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
from randomisation to all cause death during ICU stay.
1 day of ICU discharge
The All-cause mortality rate
Time Frame: 28 days after enrollment
from randomisation to all cause death at 28 days
28 days after enrollment
Cardiac failure
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The incidence of cardiac failure from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
Tracheotomy
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The incidence of tracheotomy from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
Mechanical ventilation
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The incidence of mechanical ventilation from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
Continuous renal replacement therapy
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The incidence of continuous renal replacement therapy from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
The use of vasoactive agents
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The usage rate of vasoactive agents from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
Deep venous thrombosis
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
The incidence of deep venous thrombosis from randomisation to ICU discharge
1 day of ICU discharge
The score of National Institute of Health stroke scale at ICU discharge
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
National Institute of Health stroke scale, with scores ranging from 0 (normal function) to 42 (functional impairment) was used to evaluate the impairment caused by a stroke.
1 day of ICU discharge
Glasgow Coma Scale at ICU discharge
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
Glasgow Coma Scale,with scores ranging from 3 (no response) to 15 (normal response), was used to grade the conscious state.
1 day of ICU discharge
modified Rankin scale at ICU discharge
Time Frame: 1 day of ICU discharge
modified Rankin scale score, with score ranging from 0 (normal) to 6 (death), was used to evaluate the functional outcomes after stroke.
1 day of ICU discharge
Insulin utilization
Time Frame: up to 7 days
Insulin utilization during the first 7 days post-randomization
up to 7 days
modified Rankin scale
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
modified Rankin scale score, with score ranging from 0 (normal) to 6 (death), was used to evaluate the functional outcomes after stroke, including ordinal mRS, excellent outcome (mRS 0-1), and functional independence (mRS 0-2)
90 days after enrollment

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and post-stroke pneumonia
Time Frame: 90 days after randomization
Hierarchical composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and post-stroke pneumonia within 90 days
90 days after randomization
Composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and post-stroke pneumonia
Time Frame: 7 days after randomization
Hierarchical composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and post-stroke pneumonia within 7 days
7 days after randomization
Time from randomization to the first occurrence of either all-cause death or post-stroke pneumonia
Time Frame: 90 days after randomization
Time from randomization to the first occurrence of either all-cause death or post-stroke pneumonia within 90 days
90 days after randomization

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 (Actual)

December 20, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 26, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 11, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

August 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 19, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 16, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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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