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Total knee replacement (TKR) is a major surgical operation that will be conducted in increasing numbers in Australia over the next 10 years. The patient’s post-operative course is typically painful and can have significant associated morbidity. The recovery process is also expensive due to the intensive nursing and physiotherapy that are required for rehabilitation. Optimising and streamlining this clinical pathway is vital for improved patient outcomes and the overall health budget. Whilst there is evidence to support the early mobilisation of patients post TKR (to reduce venous thromboembolism (VTE)), respiratory complications and bowel dysfunction), this may cause bleeding in and around the joint. This blood creates swelling, pain, reduced mobility, decreased knee flexion and an increased potential for infection. The primary goal of this study is to decrease surgical site bleeding as the patient mobilises in the early post-operative period. We aim to assess this by a number of clinical outcome measures. The study will use oral tranexamic acid (TXA) to reduce post-operative bleeding. It is already accepted that TXA is effective in reducing blood loss for TKR, whether it is used in the intravenous, topical or oral route. Current literature shows that there have been no attempts in individualising oral dosing of TXA for a patient, based on their weight and renal function. Additionally, evidence is sparse regards to identifying the benefits of achieving acceptable therapeutic target TXA exposure in plasma over a longer period while the potential for bleeding at the surgical site to occur is still high. We aim to show that therapeutic exposure of TXA can be used safely over a prolonged period and that this will improve outcomes.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a universal, mental health promotion and suicide prevention program – Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) – for reducing suicidal ideation and attempts, and increasing help-seeking in young people. The primary hypothesis is that after completing the YAM program, P1) students will report decreased severity of suicidal ideation.. Secondary hypotheses are, after completing the YAM program, students will self-report S1) no new incidents of suicide attempt, S2) increased help-seeking intentions and behaviours for suicide, and an associated increase in suicide literacy, and S3) decreased depressive symptoms.

The purpose of the proposed research is to develop an ongoing empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural treatments (tCBT) for emotional disorders.

This study primarily aims to see how patients having surgery for a common type of hip fracture have the oxygen levels in their brains affected after the operation by changes in their heart strength during the operation. We also want to see how other factors during the operation (blood pressure, and related factors) affect these same patients’ thinking after the operation; as well as seeing how common and how severe abnormally low readings in these factors (and other related heart factors) occur during the operation. We believe that intraoperative reduction in heart strength is related to reduced postoperative brain oxygen levels.

The transition to adulthood can be a vulnerable period for emerging adults who have a parent with mental illness or substance use concern. Compared to their same aged peers, this group of youth face increased risks to their own mental health and commonly do not engage with traditional face-to-face health services or have access to age-appropriate, targeted interventions. Increased engagement may result through providing an online intervention. This controlled trial examines the utility of mi.spot (mental illness: supportive, preventative, online, targeted) online intervention for emerging adults aged 18 to 25 years who have a parent with a mental illness or substance use concern. The research will investigate the impact of the mi. spot intervention on the mental health and wellbeing of an intervention group compared to a control group waiting to participate in the intervention. The two groups will be compared pre, post and 6 weeks follow-up after the intervention period.

The purpose of this study is to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of a newly developed parent-child cognitive behaviour therapy protocol for parents and their children who both have an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Ten separate parent and child group treatment sessions will be delivered. Treatment sessions will include relevant psychological education and the development of skills to best treat anxiety symptoms. It is anticipated that parent and child participants will find the treatment acceptable and show improvement in symptoms from pre-treatment to post-treatment. Findings from this study are expected to advance current understanding of effective treatment for parents and children with anxiety.

About one in two to three surgical patients suffer from nausea and vomiting after operation (PONV) and PONV greatly impacts on patient surgical experience and can prolong the hospital stay. Acupressure, a form of non-invasive acupuncture, can safely and effectively reduce the incidence of PONV by up to 30%. The current project aims to assess if acupressure could be incorporated into the routine management of PONV in a public hospital in Victoria to provide a non-drug option for surgical patients; what factors may impact on the adoption of acupressure; and if this non-drug option could reduce PONV and / or the use of medications. The acupressure tested is a wristband, called Seaband, and is applied to Nei Guan, an acupuncture point on the wrist of patient, about 30 min prior to surgery. The band can be in place for 24 hours. The band can be easily removed by patient if it becomes uncomfortable and can be applied later. We expect to see that this band can be easily integrated into the standard PONV management plan, and acupressure may reduce PONV or the use of anti-emetics post-operatively. Both staff and patients would be happy to have a non-drug option to complement the existing PONV management plan.

This Phase 1, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, PK, and PD of PXS-5505A in a single ascending dose (SAD) and multiple ascending dose (MAD) fashion in healthy male volunteers. The study will be conducted in 2 parts: Part A (SAD) and Part B (MAD). The MAD portion of the study will commence after all cohorts of the SAD portion of the study have been completed.

Frailty is common in older hospitalised patients and leads to adverse consequences like increased risk of death, prolonged length of hospital stay and frequent unplanned hospital readmissions but may be missed by the clinicians in the absence of proper screening. Currently, all hospitalised patients are not routinely screened for frailty. The currently available frailty tools need a face to face interaction with the patient and are time consuming. Recently a new tool called the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) has been developed that can detect frailty taking into account only the administrative data of the patients and this tool does not need a face to face interaction. However, this tool needs to be tested for accuracy in different hospital settings and needs comparison with already established frailty tools before it can be incorporated into routine clinical practice. If this tool is found to be accurate then it may help in early detection of frail patients and thus an early intervention can be started to target these patients. The purpose of this study is to compare and test the new tool against an existing frailty tool to diagnose frail hospitalised patients. This research is not funded.

Women who had preeclampsia are at greater risk for cardiovascular and related diseases and their infants are at risk of being born too small or dying. Although many aetiological risk factors have been identified for preeclampsia, at present it is not possible to effectively predict which women will develop pregnancy complications, particularly in first time pregnancies. This study aims to compare the UK developed fetal medicine foundation test with the locally developed Lyell McEwin Hospital preeclampsia screening test in all first-time pregnancies at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. Prevention of preeclampsia is an important goal of obstetrical care. The current study is needed to determine which test most effectively predicts onset of preeclampsia in nulliparous women so the introduction of this test can translate into routine antenatal care in Australia.