First name
TIC-TOC
Middle name
Collaborators of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research
Last name
Network
Nickname
PECARN

Title

Traumatic injury clinical trial evaluating tranexamic acid in children (TIC-TOC): a pilot randomized trial.

Year of Publication

2022

Date Published

2022 Mar 10

ISSN Number

1553-2712

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>The antifibrinolytic drug tranexamic acid (TXA) improves survival in adults with traumatic hemorrhage; however, the drug has not been evaluated in a trial in injured children. We evaluated the feasibility of a large-scale trial evaluating the effects of TXA in children with severe hemorrhagic injuries.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Severely injured children (0 up to 18 birthday) were randomized into a double-blind randomized trial of 1) TXA 15 mg/kg bolus dose, followed by 2 mg/kg/hr infusion over 8 hours, 2) TXA 30 mg/kg bolus dose, followed by 4 mg/kg/hr infusion over 8 hours, or 3) normal saline placebo bolus and infusion. The trial was conducted at 4 pediatric Level I trauma centers in the United States between June 2018 and March 2020. We enrolled patients under federal exception from informed consent (EFIC) procedures when parents were unable to provide informed consent. Feasibility outcomes included the rate of enrollment, adherence to intervention arms, and ability to measure the primary clinical outcome. Clinical outcomes included global functioning (primary), working memory, total amount of blood products transfused, intracranial hemorrhage progression, and adverse events. The target enrollment rate was at least 1.25 patients per site per month.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>A total of 31 patients were randomized with a mean age of 10.7 years (standard deviation [SD] 5.0 years) and 22 (71%) patients were male. The mean time from injury to randomization was 2.4 hours (SD 0.6 hours). Sixteen (52%) patients had isolated brain injuries and 15 (48%) patients had isolated torso injuries. The enrollment rate using EFIC was 1.34 patients per site per month. All eligible enrolled patients received study intervention (9 patients TXA 15 mg/kg bolus dose, 10 patients TXA 30 mg/kg bolus dose, and 12 patients placebo) and had the primary outcome measured. No statistically significant differences in any of the clinical outcomes were identified.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Based on enrollment rate, protocol adherence, and measurement of the primary outcome in this pilot trial, we confirmed the feasibility of conducting a large-scale, randomized trial evaluating the efficacy of TXA in severely injured children with hemorrhagic brain and/or torso injuries using EFIC.</p>

DOI

10.1111/acem.14481

Alternate Title

Acad Emerg Med

PMID

35266589

Title

Assessment of primary outcome measures for a clinical trial of pediatric hemorrhagic injuries.

Year of Publication

2020

Date Published

2020 Mar 09

ISSN Number

1532-8171

Abstract

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>We evaluated the acceptability of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and other outcomes as the primary outcomes for a pediatric hemorrhagic trauma trial (TIC-TOC) among clinicians.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a mixed-methods study that included an electronic questionnaire followed by teleconference discussions. Participants confirmed or rejected the PedsQL as the primary outcome for the TIC-TOC trial and evaluated and proposed alternative primary outcomes. Responses were compiled and a list of themes and representative quotes was generated.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>73 of 91 (80%) participants completed the questionnaire. 61 (84%) participants agreed that the PedsQL is an appropriate primary outcome for children with hemorrhagic brain injuries. 32 (44%) participants agreed that the PedsQL is an acceptable primary outcome for children with hemorrhagic torso injuries, 27 (38%) participants were neutral, and 13 (18%) participants disagreed. Several themes were identified from responses, including that the PedsQL is an important and patient-centered outcome but may be affected by other factors, and that intracranial hemorrhage progression assessed by brain imaging (among patients with brain injuries) or blood product transfusion requirements (among patients with torso injuries) may be more objective outcomes than the PedsQL.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>The PedsQL was a well-accepted proposed primary outcome for children with hemorrhagic brain injuries. Traumatic intracranial hemorrhage progression was favored by a subset of clinicians. A plurality of participants also considered the PedsQL an acceptable outcome for children with hemorrhagic torso injuries. Blood product transfusion requirement was favored by fewer participants.</p>

DOI

10.1016/j.ajem.2020.03.001

Alternate Title

Am J Emerg Med

PMID

32278572

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