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Pleural InfectionSLIMNCT04615286

Short Versus Long Antibiotic Course for Pleural Infection Management (SLIM Trial)

A study testing Short course (2-3 weeks) of antibiotics and Standard (long course) of antibiotics in people with Pleural Infection, run by Alexandria University at 1 site in Egypt.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Infection of the pleural space is serious condition that requires hospitalization, invasive interventions and long courses of antibiotics[1]. Treatment of pleural infection requires long hospital admission with a median of 19 days[2] and medical treatments fails requiring surgical intervention in up to 30% of… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Pleural Infection
What is being tested?
Short course (2-3 weeks) of antibiotics and Standard (long course) of antibiotics
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
50 participants
Where
1 siteEgypt
Study dates
28 Sep 2020to 6 Dec 2021
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Adult patients (>18 years old)
  • Willing to provide informed consent
  • Admitted to hospital for treatment of pleural infection (both parapneumonic and primary pleural infections included). Pleural infection will be defined by the presence of one of the following:
  • the presence of pus in the pleural space;
  • positive pleural fluid gram stain or culture; or
  • pleural fluid pH < 7.2 or pleural fluid glucose < 40 mg/dL in the setting of acute respiratory infection.
  • RAPID low or intermediate score (0-4)
  • Fit for discharge within 14th day of admission

Who cannot join

  • Failure of medical treatment within 14 days of admission and need for surgical referral
  • Need for hospital admission beyond 14 days due to medical reasons
  • Admission to recurrent ipsilateral pleural infection within the last three months
  • RAPID high score (5 or more)
  • Pleural infection not amenable to drainage at time of diagnosis and therefore upfront decision to treat with prolonged antibiotics
  • Residual pleural collection (despite attempted drainage) that the managing clinician indicated is for prolonged oral suppressive therapy (i.e. six weeks of oral antibiotics).

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Egypt1 site
  • Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine

    Alexandria

Other trials in Egypt

About this study

Official title: Short Versus Long Antibiotic Course for Pleural Infection Management (SLIM Trial): a Randomized Controlled Open Label Trial

Infection of the pleural space is serious condition that requires hospitalization, invasive interventions and long courses of antibiotics[1]. Treatment of pleural infection requires long hospital admission with a median of 19 days[2] and medical treatments fails requiring surgical intervention in up to 30% of cases[3]. The mortality from pleural infection is around 10% at 3 months[4].

Besides drainage of the infected fluid, antibiotics are a core component of management of pleural infection[5] and are typically given intravenously in the first few days of treatment until the condition is stabilized at which stage patients are shifted to oral antibiotics of equivalent spectrum. In almost half of the cases of pleural infection, the choice of antibiotics is entirely empirical due to low yield of microbiological tests on pleural fluid in these cases[6]. International guidelines cite a minimum length of antibiotic course of pleural infection of four weeks[5,7] with antibiotic courses typically lasting six weeks[8]. However, these recommendations are based on expert opinion with no robust evidence to support such durations.

Read more

The RAPID (renal function, age, purulence, infection source and dietary factors) score has recently been validated as a robust tool to predict 3-month mortality of patients with pleural infection based on demographic and laboratory data (table 1)[4]. A low score (0-2) is associated with 2-3% mortality, medium score (3-4) 9% mortality and high score (5-7) 30% mortality at three months[9]. The utility for this score in clinical management is yet to be determined and this study will attempt using this score to stratify lengths of antibiotic treatment based on proposed risk of adverse outcomes as stipulated by the RAPID score.

The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility and safety of prescribing shorter courses of antibiotics (2-3 weeks) versus the standard longer courses (4-6 weeks) in medically-treated patients with pleural infection at lower risk of mortality (RAPID score 0-4) who can be safely discharged home within 14 days of hospitalization and how this impacts success of medical treatment.

Read the detailed description

Infection of the pleural space is serious condition that requires hospitalization, invasive interventions and long courses of antibiotics. Treatment of pleural infection requires long hospital admission with a median of 19 days and medical treatments fails requiring surgical intervention in up to 30% of cases. The mortality from pleural infection is around 10% at 3 months.

Besides drainage of the infected fluid, antibiotics are a core component of management of pleural infection and are typically given intravenously in the first few days of treatment until the condition is stabilized at which stage patients are shifted to oral antibiotics of equivalent spectrum. In almost half of the cases of pleural infection, the choice of antibiotics is entirely empirical due to low yield of microbiological tests on pleural fluid in these cases. International guidelines cite a minimum length of antibiotic course of pleural infection of four weeks with antibiotic courses typically lasting six weeks[8]. However, these recommendations are based on expert opinion with no robust evidence to support such durations. A recent trial compared a two-week versus a three-week antibiotic course for parapneumonic pleural infections. The trial that concluded prematurely due to inability to recruit to target sample size and found that the two regimens were equivalent in terms of risk of failure of medical treatment. Besides being an underpowered study, the results are only applicable to parapneumonic effusions but not primary pleural infections.

The RAPID score has recently been validated as a robust tool to predict 3-month mortality of patients with pleural infection based on demographic and laboratory data. A low score (0-2) is associated with 2-3% mortality, medium score (3-4) 9% mortality and high score (5-7) 30% mortality at three months. The utility for this score in clinical management is yet to be determined and this study will attempt using this score to stratify lengths of antibiotic treatment based on proposed risk of adverse outcomes as stipulated by the RAPID score. A shorter antibiotic course that is as effective as the standard long course is desirable given the common occurrence of side effects with antibiotic treatment. The presence of a robust predictive score of outcome seems as an attractive tool to help stratify patients who can be safely treated with shorter antibiotic courses.

The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility and safety of prescribing shorter courses of antibiotics (2-3 weeks) versus the standard longer courses (4-6 weeks) in medically-treated patients with pleural infection at lower risk of mortality (RAPID score 0-4) who can be safely discharged home within 14 days of hospitalization and how this impacts success of medical treatment.

Being tested
Short course (2-3 weeks) of antibiotics, Standard (long course) of antibiotics

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Short course (2-3 weeks) of antibioticsOther

    Shorter course of antibiotic than standard care of 4-6 weeks

  • Standard (long course) of antibioticsOther

    4-6 weeks of antibiotics

Study groups in NCT04615286
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Short courseExperimentalAntibiotic course of 2-3 weeks overall duration for treating pleural infection
Receives: Other: Short course (2-3 weeks) of antibiotics
Long courseActive comparatorAntibiotic course of 4-6 weeks overall duration for treating pleural infection
Receives: Other: Standard (long course) of antibiotics

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Number of participants with failure of medical treatment

    Incidence of failure of treatment as judged by trial clinician requiring further antibiotics and/or tube drainage and/or surgical intervention by six weeks post initial admission. Failure will be determined based on the one or more of the following parameter: clinical (recurrence of symptoms), biochemical (worsening of WCC [by 2000/mm3] or CRP [by > 20%] from discharge values) and radiological (chest X-ray +/- TUS evidence of increasing or new pleural collection).

    Measured: Outcome assessed at six weeks post diagnosis

Secondary outcomes (4)
  1. Length of antibiotic treatment in days

    Total length of antibiotic treatment (in days) in the study arms

    Measured: Outcome assessed at six weeks post diagnosis

  2. Number of participants with chest X ray worsening at 6 weeks

    Number of participants with worsening in the 6-week chest X-ray as compared to discharge chest X-ray in the study arms. Chest X-ray pairs (discharge vs 6-week) will be read by a respiratory physician blinded to treatment allocation who will judge whether there is worsening (versus stability or improvement)

    Measured: Outcome assessed at six weeks post diagnosis

  3. Time to return to normal daily activities in days

    Time (in days) to return to normal daily activities in participants of the study arms

    Measured: Outcome assessed at six weeks post diagnosis

  4. Number of participants requiring readmission within 30 days from discharge

    Readmission within 30 days from discharge

    Measured: 30 days from discharge

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted4 Nov 2020
  2. Study start28 Sep 2020
  3. Primary completion10 Nov 2021
  4. Study completion6 Dec 2021

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
50 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04615286
Sponsor's protocol ID
3/24/11/10/2020
Acronym
SLIM
Status last verified
Dec 2021
First submitted
14 Oct 2020
Last updated
21 Dec 2021
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: The spreadsheets with de-identified patient information will be stored securely after trial conclusion with the principal investigator and will be accessible to other members of the study team. Request to access study data by persons outside the study teams will be expected via email and access will be granted by the principal investigator if the request is deemed reasonable.

Publications

  • Davies HE, Davies RJ, Davies CW; BTS Pleural Disease Guideline Group. Management of pleural infection in adults: British Thoracic Society Pleural Disease Guideline 2010. Thorax. 2010 Aug;65 Suppl 2:ii41-53. doi: 10.1136/thx.2010.137000. No abstract available.

    PubMed 20696693
  • Cargill TN, Hassan M, Corcoran JP, Harriss E, Asciak R, Mercer RM, McCracken DJ, Bedawi EO, Rahman NM. A systematic review of comorbidities and outcomes of adult patients with pleural infection. Eur Respir J. 2019 Oct 1;54(3):1900541. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00541-2019. Print 2019 Sep.

    PubMed 31391221
  • Maskell NA, Lee YC, Gleeson FV, Hedley EL, Pengelly G, Davies RJ. Randomized trials describing lung inflammation after pleurodesis with talc of varying particle size. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004 Aug 15;170(4):377-82. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200311-1579OC. Epub 2004 May 13.

    PubMed 15142871
  • Corcoran JP, Psallidas I, Gerry S, Piccolo F, Koegelenberg CF, Saba T, Daneshvar C, Fairbairn I, Heinink R, West A, Stanton AE, Holme J, Kastelik JA, Steer H, Downer NJ, Haris M, Baker EH, Everett CF, Pepperell J, Bewick T, Yarmus L, Maldonado F, Khan B, Hart-Thomas A, Hands G, Warwick G, De Fonseka D, Hassan M, Munavvar M, Guhan A, Shahidi M, Pogson Z, Dowson L, Popowicz ND, Saba J, Ward NR, Hallifax RJ, Dobson M, Shaw R, Hedley EL, Sabia A, Robinson B, Collins GS, Davies HE, Yu LM, Miller RF, Maskell NA, Rahman NM. Prospective validation of the RAPID clinical risk prediction score in adult patients with pleural infection: the PILOT study. Eur Respir J. 2020 Nov 26;56(5):2000130. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00130-2020. Print 2020 Nov.

    PubMed 32675200
  • Bedawi EO, Hassan M, Rahman NM. Recent developments in the management of pleural infection: A comprehensive review. Clin Respir J. 2018 Aug;12(8):2309-2320. doi: 10.1111/crj.12941.

    PubMed 30005142
  • Hassan M, Cargill T, Harriss E, Asciak R, Mercer RM, Bedawi EO, McCracken DJ, Psallidas I, Corcoran JP, Rahman NM. The microbiology of pleural infection in adults: a systematic review. Eur Respir J. 2019 Oct 1;54(3):1900542. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00542-2019. Print 2019 Sep.

    PubMed 31248959
  • Bhatnagar R, Maskell N. The modern diagnosis and management of pleural effusions. BMJ. 2015 Sep 8;351:h4520. doi: 10.1136/bmj.h4520. No abstract available.

    PubMed 26350935
  • Hooper CE, Edey AJ, Wallis A, Clive AO, Morley A, White P, Medford AR, Harvey JE, Darby M, Zahan-Evans N, Maskell NA. Pleural irrigation trial (PIT): a randomised controlled trial of pleural irrigation with normal saline versus standard care in patients with pleural infection. Eur Respir J. 2015 Aug;46(2):456-63. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00147214. Epub 2015 May 28.

    PubMed 26022948
  • Rahman NM, Kahan BC, Miller RF, Gleeson FV, Nunn AJ, Maskell NA. A clinical score (RAPID) to identify those at risk for poor outcome at presentation in patients with pleural infection. Chest. 2014 Apr;145(4):848-855. doi: 10.1378/chest.13-1558.

    PubMed 24264558

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Short course (2-3 weeks) of antibiotics and Standard (long course) of antibiotics in people with Pleural Infection, run by Alexandria University at 1 site in Egypt.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Dec 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Egypt. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Number of participants with failure of medical treatment (time frame: Outcome assessed at six weeks post diagnosis). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04615286, which also lists 9 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Dec 2021.

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