ANZCTR search results

The Problem: After the initial brain trauma (primary injury) additional brain injury occurs (secondary brain injury) which can significantly affect long-term outcomes of death and severe disability. We aim to reduce this secondary brain injury through a strategy of brain oxygen neuromonitoring and optimisation. Clinical monitoring has traditionally focused on measuring intracranial pressure (ICP), and optimising cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). These are both insensitive to changes in brain oxygen. Neuronal health depends on a constant supply of oxygen, and in patients with the worst outcomes, brain ischemia is found. In comparison to standard ICP/CPP based care, the BONANZA study will assess the value of additional continuous monitoring of the partial pressure of brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2), in combination with a specific set of interventions that can be instituted when low brain oxygen levels are detected. Some centres use this approach as standard, but this number is currently small. Current data suggests this approach reduces the cerebral hypoxic burden post-TBI and may improve survival and functional outcomes. The solution: The BONANZA study will assess this management strategy and guide clinical practice and policy globally with significant impacts whether the approach proves beneficial or not. This study has now become truly global with sites in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Belgium, UK and Finland, Further sites are planned for in France and Germany. The Impact: If BONANZA demonstrates benefit, it will become the global standard of care benefiting patients, their families, clinicians and reducing healthcare costs. Equipoise currently exists to address this important evidence gap.

KT-101-02 is a multi-centre, randomised, double-masked, exploratory study of topical ocular miotic agents when administered as a microdose with the Kedalion AcuStream™ delivery system to improve symptoms of presbyopia. Pre-clinical testing evaluation and previous clinical trials show that miotics delivered through the AcuStream™ device have shown efficacy and safety for the treatment of presbyopia. This study will further define the efficacy benefits as well as tolerability and side effects.

The purpose of this study is to see if a medication called anamorelin improves muscle mass and outcomes in patients with malignant mesothelioma. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged 18 or over, have confirmed malignant mesothelioma and have lost more than 5% of your body weight in 6 months (i.e. ‘cachexia’). Study details Participants will be randomised by chance (like flipping a coin) into two groups. One group will take the active drug anamorelin per day for 28 days, before switching to an inactive placebo medication for another 28 days (after a 3 day break). The other group will follow the same pattern, only they will have the placebo first and then the active medication. Neither the researchers nor participants will know which order the medication/placebo are taken in. As part of this study, all participants will complete a number of questionnaires, a food diary, provide blood samples for testing and have body scans that measure muscle mass. It is hoped this research will show that the medication anamorelin can help patients with malignant mesothelioma maintain or gain weight, which might help them feel better, and shed some insight into body markers of cancer-related weight-loss.

Vaccination against pertussis whooping cough and influenza are recommended during pregnancy to protect both the mother and baby from these diseases. A group of medications called biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are increasingly being used in pregnant women in autoimmune diseases, and the impact of these medications on the immune response to vaccines in mothers and in their babies is not yet known. We hypothesise that the immune response to some vaccines may be lower in babies who were exposed to these medications during pregnancy. We will compare the immune response to vaccines in mothers and babies in four groups; women who took bDMARDs during pregnancy; women who took other types of immune-suppressing medications; women who have autoimmune disease but did not take any immune-suppressing medications during pregnancy; and healthy pregnant women.

The aim of this project is to collate feedback from patients with Multi Resistant Organisms relating to the perception of their care whilst an inpatient at QEII Jubilee Hospital. The findings will enable us to ascertain if the information currently provided is adequate and appropriate and delivered in a way that is meaningful and useable for the patients. This study will enable us to determine what/if any improvements that can made in our current management of patients with Multi Resistant Organisms.

The aim of this study is to report the effects of a 9 week Movement Oriented Games Based Assessment programme for 8-12 year olds for improving children's movement competence, physical activity, physical fitness, self-confidence and children's self-perceived enjoyment and motivation. This scaling trial will be used to establish an understanding of the effectiveness of MOGBA prior to roll out across activity programmes within Nike's Made to Play portfolio. We hypothesized that children in the MOGBA intervention, compared to those in the control group, will display more favorable changes in movement competence, physical activity, physical fitness, physical self-perceptions and game perceptions,

The symptoms of Allergic rhinitis, such as nasal congestion and itching, are a burden for an estimated 3.2 million Australians and its prevalence is increasing. There is growing evidence to suggest that probiotic supplementation elicits beneficial health effects on the host through modulation of the immune system and thereby can improve symptoms associated with Allergic rhinitis. The aim of this research is to examine the effect of probiotic supplementation on symptoms and quality of life in individuals suffering from Allergic rhinitis.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses a momentary electromagnetic pulse to activate localised areas of brain tissue. A patterned form of TMS called Theta Burst Stimulation (TBS) appears to induce temporary plastic-like change in the brain. The technique has proven useful in treating disorders (e.g depression). However, individual response to TBS varies in neuroscience research and clinical treatment. Indeed approximately 40% of depression sufferers are not helped by TBS. Recent evidence suggests this variation may be due to TBS activating different groups of brain cells in different people, the latter of which can be measured using common TMS outcome metrics. Given mixed evidence, the proposed research will comprehensively examine the degree to which common TMS outcome metrics can predict TBS response. Investigating and controlling sources of variability in TBS could lead to greatly improved neuroscientific knowledge and clinical outcomes.

This study aims to conduct a pilot randomised trial at the Queensland Children’s Hospital with children with burn scars to determine the effectiveness of ablative fractional CO2 laser therapy or medical needling therapy for the treatment of thickened burn scars. Both the interventions of medical needling and ablative fractional CO2 laser are believed to improve scarring by creating microscopic holes in the scar tissue that assist to remodel the scarring. It is hypothesised that either medical needling or ablative fractional CO2 laser is more effective than usual care at improving children's outcomes. This trial will pave the way for a larger multi-centre randomised trial of the three included interventions in children.

Compared with the general population, people with dementia and cognitive impairment are almost twice as likely to present to emergency departments (EDs). For people with dementia a sudden change in environment to a busy ED with unfamiliar care providers, coupled with acute injury or illness, can cause rapid disorientation and decline in responsive behaviours. When responsive behaviours such as wandering, agitation and aggression occur in the ED, they are typically managed with restrictive interventions or one-on-one nursing care. However, chemical restraint in the form of psychoactive or sedating medications can lead to worsening symptoms or delirium. One-on-one nursing is expensive and often conducted by unskilled staff who have neither the knowledge nor the experience to provide therapeutic interventions. While non-pharmacological treatments to manage responsive behaviours have been proposed as the gold standard, especially in sub-acute and residential aged care settings the evidence about their effectiveness in EDs is scarce. In this study we will determine the effectiveness of a therapeutic activity kit in ED patients who exhibit or are at risk of developing responsive behaviours, on the need for one-on-one nursing and chemical or physical restraint.