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The purpose of this study is to determine whether the use of adjunctive G-CSF therapy decreases mortality and morbidity in critically ill patients with septic shock. Patients are screened for eligibility to participate in the study. If all inclusion criteria are met and there are no exclusion criteria consent is obtained from the patients or next of kin. Once consent is obtained the ICU pharmacist is contacted and the patient is randomised to receive either G-CSF or placebo once a day for 10 days or until discharge from ICU if that is sooner. Data is collected on a daily basis whilst the patient is in ICU and following discharge from ICU the date of hospital discharge or death is obtained from the hospital patient records database.

Patients who have developed kidney failure in the intensive care unit (ICU) ar being invited to take part in a clinical research study comparing two different types of artifical kidney treatment, which doctors call continuous renal replacement therapy or CRRT for short. The goal of the study is to compare two doses of CRRT. This treatment is also commonly known as continuous dialysis. As it stands doctors are uncertain as to the best level of intensity of treatment with a kidney machine in this setting and wish to do a study comparing two levels of treatment to see which one is best for patients with this condition. If a patient has acute renal failure and they require treatmnet they will still receive one of these treatments because their kidneys are failing. The CRRT two doses are: 1. Continuous renal replacement therapy at 40 ml/kg/hr (about 3 litres per hour) of fluid exchange or 2. Continuous renal replacement therapy at 25 ml/kg/hr (about 2 litres per hour) of fluid exchange. This study will involve 1500 patients from 30 Intensive Care Units in Australia and New Zealand and will include all types of patients admitted to Intensive Care.

Patients had a reduced incidence of vasospasm but the resul was not significant. There was no difference between groupw

One of the most painful and debilitating side effects of chemotherapy is mucoisits. Oral mucositis involves swelling, irritation, and ulceration of the lining of the mouth. Good mouth care including mouthwashes has been shown to relieve symptoms. Currently, there is no strong evidence to support the use of any mouthwash. This is a pilot study to test the mouthwash, Biotene. Patients (24) will receive either Normal Saline or Biotene mouthwashes. The following data will be collected from each group: 1) severity of mucositis, symptoms experienced and 3) compliance with mouth care. Patients will be randomly assigned and unaware of which mouthwash they are to receive.

Oxygen is the commonest neonatal therapy. Unfortunately, both too much and too little oxygen may be harmful for very premature infants. We now measure the oxygen in a baby's blood by oxygen saturation but the optimum range in the first few weeks is unknown and no randomised controlled trial (RCT) has addressed this question. This proposal is for Australian arm of a major international study involving 5000 babies, born at less than 28 weeks, to address this question. Babies will be randomised to a higher or lower target range of oxygen saturation from birth (85-89% or 91-95%). For all oximeters staff will target a masked range of 88-92%. We will assess which of the two target ranges is associated with the best overall outcome, which is a composite measure of survival, disability on a standard test of neurodevelopment (Bayley scales), and visual function at 2 years of age.

Low back pain affects most people at some stage in their life and is a major cause of chronic absenteeism and disability. Three common treatments for chronic LBP are spinal manipulative therapy, general exercise, and specific stabilisation exercise. While there is evidence that they are effective, to date there has been no head to head comparison of these treatments. We propose to conduct a definitive trial to investigate the effects of these interventions in a population suffering from chronic low back pain.

Approval granted to commence the trial in late 2003. The trial is conducted with the oversight of an independant data and safety monitoring board.