ANZCTR search results

The purpose of this study is to further develop a nasal dressing for use after endoscopic sinus surgery. The gel being use is called Chitodex (Chitosan-Dextran gel) and has already been shown to be effective in controlling blood loss and reducing adhesions after endoscopic sinus surgery. The effectiveness and safety of the gel has been demonstrated in numerous human and animal trials. We are trying to incorporate additional medications into the gel to further accentuate it's uses after endoscopic sinus surgery. The addition of budesonide has shown to reduce adhesions and inflammation after sinus surgery, thus reducing the failure rate of the operation and the chance a patient needs another procedure. This has been demonstrated in a clinical trial. We hypothesise that the addition of a local anaesthetic to the gel, known as ropivacaine, will reduce the pain and discomfort that patients typically experience after endoscopic sinus surgery.

The purpose of the Active minds, happy kids program is to trial a program to support young children’s social skills and cognitive functioning by decreasing their electronic media use. Social skill is an important aspect of children’s psychological and social health. For instance, how well the child is able to manage emotions such as anger and frustration, their confidence in being able to ask for what they need, and the way they interact with other people. Cognitive functioning includes language development and memory functioning. Supporting social skills and cognitive functioning during the preschool years is essential to enhance educational, psychological, work and mental health outcomes in later years. This research is being conducted by Dr Trina Hinkley, Dr Jarrad Lum, Dr Dylan Cliff and Dr Kylie Hesketh. We hope to learn more about the sorts of behaviours which might help to support healthy social skills and positive cognitive functioning in young children. We plan to trial a number of strategies in this program to allow us to assess which might be most appropriate to use in the future. This information is important as it will help us understand how best to support parents so that they in turn may support healthy growth and development in their young children.

Each individual differs in how his/her body handles a medication, meaning that even when every patient is given the exact same dose, each person can end up with a very different concentration of the drug in the blood. It is the drug concentration in the body, not the dose given, which determines a drug’s effects – both its benefits and unwanted side effects. This drug concentration is critical for many anti-rejection drugs used in kidney transplantation, because of the delicate balance between giving enough to prevent rejection and loss of the transplant kidney, whilst minimising adverse effects of the medication. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is one of the most important ‘anti-rejection’ drugs that have improved kidney transplant outcomes. We are testing whether giving patients MMF before their kidney transplant, and testing the concentrations in their blood, allow us to optimally dose each individual's MMF dose from the time of transplant. This potentially means that a patient can be on the best, personalised dose from the start. This has the potential to reduce transplant rejection rates and improve outcomes, whilst also reducing harmful effects of MMF, with an overall improvement in quality of life.

The aim of the research is to compare the efficacy of a 6-month weight loss intervention for young (18 to 35 years) overweight and obese (Body Mass Index 25 to 34.9kg/m2) women delivered using eHealth technologies to a waiting list control group. Participants will be randomly allocated to the intervention (Be Positive Be Healthe) or waiting list control group. After 6-months the waiting list control group will receive access to Be Positive Be Healthe program tools. Participants in both groups will be asked to have a series of measures taken (e.g. weight, height) and complete online questionnaires at the start of the program (baseline), mid-program (3-months) and post program (6-months). The researchers will also track intervention participants use of the eHealth tools.

Does the use of Music Therapy or Combination of music therapy with sucrose (24 % sterile sugar water) provide similar or better pain relief compared to Sucrose during the heel prick procedure. The research is aimmed to see if we can reduce the usage of sucrose, especially repeated and higher dosages in NICU with the help of music therapy which is relatively safe (within the recommened sound dose levels) and developementally appropriate intervention.

The Parenting Kit, titled “Growing together”, has been designed to guide prospective and new parents from conception until their child is one year of age. . The idea is that the kit is generic, with the aim being that if effective it will be able to be rolled out throughout Victoria. A team from Judith Lumley Centre at La Trobe University are conducting a cluster RCT to evaluate the Parenting Kit. The two arms of the trial will consist of a control group receiving standard care and intervention group receiving the Parenting Kit. Various outcomes will be measured including maternal health and well-being, women’s experience of motherhood, attachment, infant development, and parental confidence. The views and experiences of health professionals will also be evaluated.

This clinical trial outlines the design of a randomised controlled trial that investigates the potential benefits of adding a widely available and inexpensive intervention to standard Multimodal Manual Therapy (MMT). Numerous chronic low back pain (LBP) Clinical Practice Guidelines have recommended that patient management for LBP should consist of MMT and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). MMT and CBT are effective interventions for LBP as standalone treatments. Furthermore; they have the potential to be combined as a secondary intervention for prevention of LBP related disability. It is also known that higher levels of patient self-efficacy correlate with improvements in disability. CBT is known for its effects on improving self-efficacy. The primary aim of this trial is to assess the effects of combining MMT with MoodGYM on self-efficacy and disability . This study is the first to investigate the secondary prevention of problems in a chronic LBP population using this combined intervention approach. If this approach shows signs of being effective in reducing long-term disability, it will allow patients, practitioners and other stakeholders who don’t have access to a multidisciplinary team, access to a best practice care tool for the management and secondary prevention of chronic LBP. Furthermore, the outcomes of this trial may produce the beginnings of a tailored interner-based CBT program that can be added to MMT for patients that are at medium risk of developing LBP related disability and pain.

This study aims to determine whether the smartphone applications for skin screening are effective at providing an accurate diagnosis of melanoma. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have a suspected melanoma and/or clinically benign skin lesion. Study details. The accuracy of smartphone applications will be tested by taking photos of the skin lesions and comparing the smartphone applications evaluation against the histological gold standard diagnosis by a dermatologist. If the study shows that these applications are accurate, this will allow greater acceptance of them for medical use. If inaccurate, it will raise concerns about the need for regulation of these applications due to the health risk posed.

This research project is being conducted to look at how safe and well tolerated a new drug called DUR-928 is when given to healthy volunteers, once daily for 5 days at 2 different dose levels. The pharmacokinetics of DUR-928 will also be studied; this is done by measuring the amount of DUR-928 in the blood at different times throughout the 5 day dosing period, allowing us to evaluate how DUR-928 is handled by the body (for example how quickly it gets into the blood stream). This study will also look at the effect the food may have of the pharmacokinetics of DUR-928.

This study will investigate the effectiveness of using either radiotherapy or Imiquimod to treat lentigo maligna (LM), when surgery is not possible, is refused, or fails. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have a biopsy proven LM. Study details: Surgery is the standard treatment for people diagnosed with LM. However for some people, it may not be possible due to the location of their LM lesion(s). Currently, the Australian and New Zealand Melanoma Treatment Guidelines recommend radiotherapy for the treatment of LM however there is no clinical trial evidence for this and a trial is needed to prove which treatment is safer and more effective. Some clinicians may also recommend the use of a cream called Imiquimod. Although not currently licensed for treatment use in LM, there is some evidence to suggest that it is both safe and effective in treating LM. Participants in this study will be randomly (by chance) allocated to either standard care radiotherapy or 12 weeks of treatment with imiquimod cream 5 times a week. All participants will be followed up to 24 months and attend regular visits with their study doctor to monitor side effects and treatment response.