ANZCTR search results

Project Summary Anastomotic leakage (AL) is a serious complication of intestinal surgery, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Current approaches to early detection of AL are nonspecific and insensitive. As a consequence, AL are often diagnosed at a later stage with the presentation of clinical symptoms and often secondary complications. In our subsequent studies we propose utilising a commonly used radiological solution, Gastrografin, as a biomarker of early detection of AL. Gastrografin is a water soluble, contrast solution commonly used for abdominal CT (computer tomography). In clinical practice, when administered orally or as an enema Gastrografin acts as a radiological contrast for the detection anastomotic leaks. It is also employed in regular clinical practice in small bowel obstruction and ileus. Our feasibility study aims to assess safety and optimise the technique and conditions required to reliably detect Gastrografin in surgical samples by Dual Emission CT (DECT) The outcomes of this Phase 1 feasibility study and the separate validation study are important in the development of the standard operating protocols for our proposed main study “Drain fluid Gastrografin as a sensitive biomarker for early detection of anastomotic leaks after low anterior resection”.

The low utility of lung function testing in clinical practice, despite its importance, is not surprising as to date there are no randomised controlled trials (RCT) that have assessed the benefits in routine clinical practice. This RCT will assess the benefit of spirometry, in all paediatric respiratory conditions, which may lead to a change in routine clinical practice. If this study shows that spirometry has a positive impact on clinical decision making and quality of life, this evidence will encourage the use of spirometry as an important clinical assessment tool in both tertiary and primary care practice.

This study is a single-centre, two (2) groups (ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke), observational study of participants with a diagnosed stroke whose data would be used to refine the algorithm of the software component of the EMVision brain scanner. No intervention or modification to the usual hospital based treatment of stroke is proposed as part of this trial. The study population will include patients of the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, with stroke symptoms and radiological images of the type and location of the stroke. Patients who are confirmed/diagnosed to have stroke and have diagnostic CT or MRI images for comparison, would be considered for participation in the study. The microwave imaging will not change the standard clinical care, nor be used in clinical nor diagnostic evaluation in this study. A participant’s involvement may last up to approximately 28 days as an inpatient or until discharge (whichever is sooner). The total trial will be conducted over approximately 12 months (including enrolment of up to 30 participants).

Hyponatraemia is common in hospitalised patients. Our Australian data demonstrate that hyponatraemia leads to adverse outcomes and delays hospital discharge, due to unavailability of effective pathophysiology-based treatment. In Australia, fluid restriction is the mainstay of treatment for euvolaemic and hypervolaemic hypotonic hyponatraemia in hospital inpatients. Tolvaptan, a vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist, may be more effective.

This project will look at the effects of twice daily treatment using a new airway clearance device called the MetaNeb®, on lung function, secretion clearance and CF related symptoms compared to twice daily treatment using usual ACT in adults with CF who are hospitalised with a respiratory exacerbation. We hypothesise that in adults with CF, hospitalised with a respiratory exacerbation, twice daily MetaNeb® treatment, compared with usual ACT, will produce greater improvements in lung function, secretion clearance, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and respiratory signs and symptoms. If this device is shown to be more effective than the commonly used techniques, this would be of great clinical significance as it will assist in guiding clinical use of the device throughout CF centres in Australia and internationally.

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether a virtual reality exposure therapy program, delivered using 360 degree videos, can reduce public speaking anxiety compared to a waitlist control. We expect that the 360 video program will lead to decreased public speaking anxiety at 2 weeks post-intervention compared to the control.

The aim of this study is to examine the association between a modified carbohydrate diet, quality of life and glycaemic control in adults living with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The study design is an cross-sectional, case control cohort study: pre and post intervention. The intervention group (n= 23) will undergo the modified carbohydrate diet for 12 weeks. The matched controls group (n= 23) will undergo "usual" care for 12 weeks. Each participant will complete the validated diabetes specific quality of life questionnaire and have their HbA1c collected pre and post the intervention period. This study will determine if a modified carbohydrate diet mediates the relationship between quality of life and glycaemic control in adults with T1DM.

Yawardani Jan-ga means 'horses helping' in Yawuru (local Broome) language. It is a direct response to community concerns over youth social and emotional wellbeing, and requests for research programs that are strengths-based and focused on building resilience among youth. Yawardani Jan-ga will investigate the effects of using equine-assisted learning (EAL) to increase the social and emotional wellbeing among Aboriginal youth as an alternative approach to traditional Western models of mental health service provision.

Peanut allergy affects up to 3% Australian children and peanut oral immunotherapy (POIT) is the most studied method for peanut desensitization. While results from POIT are generally promising, it is worthy to note that desensitization actually accounts for only the first year of treatment, after which regular maintenance of peanut ingestion demands much longer-term patience and perseverance. This is of great importance because many children dislike the taste of peanut, and it is timely to shift focus from initial safety to ongoing adherence in POIT. A major design-limitation of all currently published OIT studies is that they do not incorporate a well-structured protocol for maintenance therapy post-desensitization. This may contribute to non-adherence. A well-designed and high-quality post-desensitization RCT is therefore needed to make best use of the time and expense already put into OIT while maintaining the long-term benefit of desensitization in the years that follow. Successful desensitization can reduce psycho-social morbidity by offering the child protection from accidental ingestion of at least the same amount of desensitization-dose peanut. However, there no studies have been done to compare Quality of Life between adherent and non-adherent subjects post-desensitization. The fact that many desensitized children have opted to drop-out from treatment rather than maintaining ingestion is concerning, and may indicate that the time immediately after desensitization is an inflection point for Quality of Life changes. We think this study will reveal vital data in the understanding of causes and consequences of longer-term poor adherence after initially successful desensitization.

The study aims to assess whether laser treatment (also called photobiomodulation) can help with neurotoxicity from chemotherapy. Photobiomodulation is the use of a low-power laser to improve the nerve damage. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are male or female, aged 18 years or older with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms. There must be at least 3 months following last exposure to neurotoxic chemotherapy, including taxane and platinum classes. Study details All participants in the study will be randomly allocated (50/50) chance to one of the following treatments: 1. Laser treatment to the hands, feet and back for 6 weeks. 2. The control treatment, which is the same (including laser treatment), however the laser source is covered up. This means people in the control group do not know which treatment they are getting. During the study, the participants wear black goggles to prevent them from identifying their treatment. While on the study, participants will be asked about their symptoms, their day-to-day function and have a physical exam focused on nerves. It is hoped this laser treatment will improve nerve symptoms in the patient population and help inform a larger study with more patients.