ANZCTR search results

The Entourage project is funded by the Movember Foundation's 2018 Social Innovators Challenge and seeks to address symptoms of social anxiety in young people. The primary aim of the project is to improve social connectedness, reduce loneliness and isolation and restore social functioning in young people with social anxiety. The Entourage project will achieve these goals by piloting a dynamic, integrating e-mentoring and social networking platform based on the moderated online social therapy (MOST) model. Overarching goals of the project include determining the acceptability, feasibility and long-term sustainability of the intervention platform.

Summary Aim: To investigate the effect of intraoperative acupuncture on postoperative pain in children following tonsillectomy. Background: Tonsillectomy in children is usually accompanied by significant morbidity, including postoperative bleeding, pain, nausea, vomiting, poor oral intake and dehydration. Recent evidences in literature indicate that acupuncture may have a role in reducing postoperative pain in these children. Methods: This prospective randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of intraoperative acupuncture in reducing pain following tonsillectomy in 251 children. All patients received a standardised anaesthesia and surgery including intraoperative Morphine, Dexamethasone, Granisetron and Clonidine. In the acupuncture group, acupuncture was applied at 10 specified points immediately after induction of anaesthesia. Postoperative pain relief consisted of regular Paracetamol and Oxycodone as required. All patients, nursing staffs and parents are blinded. All assessors evaluated postoperative pain using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain scale. Pain scores were recorded at regular intervals during the first 24 hours in hospital and on day 1,2 and 5 following discharge at home.

Postprandial (post-meal consumption) blood triglyceride level has emerged as a clinically relevant risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. It is normal for postprandial triglycerides to rise after a fat-rich meal, however, elevated and excessive postprandial plasma triglyceride levels are associated with several cardio-metabolic events such as the formation of atherosclerosis. Long chain omega 3 fatty acids (eicosapentanoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) are established triglyceride lowering agents which are primarily obtained from marine sources or fish oil. Medium chain fatty acids (MCFA, 6-12 carbon atoms) derived from coconut oil have been shown to lower triglyceride levels and raise HDL-cholesterol compared to long-chain saturated fatty acids in preclinical studies. The purpose of this trial is to investigate the combination of a single dose of dietary MCFA (coconut oil) and LCn-3PUFA (fish oil) on the post-meal rise in blood triglyceride levels in healthy individuals.

Non-healing soft tissue and malignant wounds can be very challenging to treat in the palliative care setting. Instead of complete healing, the goals of care in this setting are to reduce symptoms such as malodour, exudate and pain, to maintain patients’ dignity and to improve quality of life. This study aims to investigate the use of sterile larvae therapy in treating non-healing soft tissue and malignant wounds in the palliative care setting.

The purpose of this arm of the “ICU of the future” project is to evaluate the quality and duration of sleep for patients in the ICU, and to link this with the environmental factors they are exposed to in the unit. A lack of sleep, or interrupted sleep, is a common problem for patients in the ICU. Varying degrees of this disruption is caused by the patient’s underlying illness and medication and is unlikely to be modifiable. However, a number of potentially modifiable factors exist including the ICU environment, treatment and assessment regimes, and staff behavioural patterns. By conducting sleep and activity monitoring concurrently with environmental measurements and reviewing staff activities, we will not only be able to formally assess the sleep quality and duration of patients, but also to identify and evaluate key environmental contributors to sleep disruption. By establishing the reasons for sleep disturbances, we can then focus on developing strategies for addressing the modifiable causes and contributors. The information obtained will be directly translated to support the design and subsequent evaluation of the prototype ICU bedspace being developed as part of the “ICU of the future” project. Measures collected in this study will additionally function as a ‘baseline’ for comparison with data to be collected once the prototype is operational where we will assess whether the prototype ICU bedspace improves or alters the quality and quantity of sleep.

Central venous catheters (CVCs) are used in most intensive care units (ICU) patients to deliver intravenous treatment and monitor central venous pressures. Whilst integral to patient treatment, CVCs are associated with significant risk, the most serious being infection. Polyhecamethylene buguanide (PHMB)-impregnated foam discs around the CVC insertion site may work to reduce the incidence of CVC infection, but have so far not been tested in a critical care environment. The aim of this pilot study is to assess feasibility of study protocol and processes to inform budget, sample size calculations and protocol development of a larger, definitive trial. The outcome measures for this pilot study are feasibility (eligibility, recruitment, retention, protocol fidelity, missing data, patient/staff satisfaction), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), other BSIs, venous/arterial infection, skin complications, device/dressing functional dwell time, SAEs and cost-effectiveness.

Twenty-two French ICUs published in 2017 found worse outcomes in bereaved relatives that received a condolence letter compared to no follow up. By comparing three communication strategies: a condolence letter, a telephone call and no contact, our pilot study aims to determine which of these interventions administered four weeks after death is associated with the lowest rate of anxiety, depression, complicated grief and PTSD when assessed at six months.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a highly prevalent chronic disease, affecting 1 in 3 people in Australia. Our diet has been long known to influence the levels of blood pressure. New evidence from our laboratory has emerged that this may be due to the tiny microorganisms that live in our gut, called gut microbes. While our bodies are incapable of digesting some types of fibre, they are fermented in gut, where they feed the community of ‘good’ microbes (especially bacteria), resulting in the release of substances that can be detected in our blood and might be beneficial in lowering our blood pressure. The present study will test if a modified high fibre food supplement that copies the release of gut substances that could be used to lower blood pressure,

Approximately 10-30% of young children are at high-risk of experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, mood and/or behavioural disorders following a traumatic injury. We have developed and found support for the efficacy of the Coping with Accident Reactions (CARE) early intervention at accelerating the recovery from PTSD symptoms for young injured children (1-6 years). The aim of this pragmatic trial is demonstrate the effectiveness of the screen-and-treat CARE intervention program when delivered by hospital staff as part of routine clinical care.

Lipids(such as resolvins) have been shown to play an important role in resolution of inflammation. The research aims to assess the lipid variations present saliva and gingival fluid of patients with no gum disease and healthy gums, compared with those with inflamed gums but no gum disease, and those with gum disease. It is expected that through the research analysis and treatment of gum disease we will identify lipid profiles amongst gum disease and health as well as certain lipid profiles that respond to treatment better than others.