Randomized Controlled Trial of Long-term Mild Hypothermia for Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (LTH-Ⅰ)

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01886222
• Recruitment Status: Completed
• First Posted: June 25, 2013
• Last Update Posted: March 12, 2020
• Sponsor: RenJi Hospital
• Collaborators: First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University; West China Hospital; Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University; The 101st Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army; The 98 Hospital of People's Liberation Army; Shenzhen Second People's Hospital; The 94 Hospital of People's Liberation Army; Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University; The Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces; Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; Taizhou First People's Hospital; Tang-Du Hospital; Qilu Hospital of Shandong University; Chongqing Emergency Medical Center; Xuzhou Central Hospital; The Affiliated Hospital Of Southwest Medical University
• Information provided by (Responsible Party): Jiyao Jiang, RenJi Hospital

Study Description

Brief Summary:

This study is a prospective multi-centre randomized trial to compare the effect of long-term mild hypothermia versus routine normothermic intensive management in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

The primary hypothesis is that the induction of mild hypothermia (maintained at 34-35℃) for 5 days will improve the outcome of patients at six months post injury compared with normothermia.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Brain Injuries; Craniocerebral Trauma	Other: Long-term mild hypothermia; Other: Normothermia	Not Applicable

Detailed Description:

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a leading cause of death and disability in people with injuries and constitutes a major public health concern both in developed and developing countries. There are multiple clinical trials of hypothermia therapy for TBI conducted, however, with conflicting results. Subgroup analysis of most meta-analysis showed that therapeutic effect was significant when hypothermia was maintained more than 48 hours. We have previously reported a multicenter trial of mild hypothermia (33-35℃) for severe traumatic brain injury, in which 215 patients was randomized to long-term mild hypothermia group (n = 108) for 5 ±1.3 days mild hypothermia therapy and short-term mild hypothermia group ( n = 107) for 2±0.6 days mild hypothermia therapy. The results shown improved outcomes in patients with long-term mild hypothermia and similar frequency of complications. Therefore we concluded that long-term hypothermia, which maintains at 33-35℃ for 5 days, could be considered in the management of severe traumatic brain injury.

Hypothermia therapy was recommend as the level III evidence by the 2007 Brain Trauma Foundation's guideline and this treatment is currently used in our department and other large neurosurgical centers across China, with the aim to decrease the high intracranial pressure (ICP) and improve the functional outcome of TBI patients. When the decision was made, the injured patients would be placed on cooling blankets, tracheotomized and ventilated. The patients would receive continuous infusions of a paralytic drug (Tracrium 10-40 mg/hour) and chlorpromazine (5-10 mg/hour) administered using an infusion pump to prevent shivering. The dosage was given according to each patient's temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and muscular tone. Once the patient's rectal temperature reached 33˚C, it was kept at approximately that temperature (33-35˚C) 5 to 7 days. Then the patients were passively rewarmed to a temperature of 37 to 38˚C at a rate no greater than 1˚C/hour, by gradual adjustment of the blanket thermostat.

The present multi-center, randomized controlled trials is designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of long-term (5 days) mild hypothermia versus normothermia on the outcome of patients following severe traumatic brain injury. The primary outcome is the neurological function assessed at 1, 6 months post injury with the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS). Additionally, the following data will also be recorded and compared: the baseline data, Glasgow Coma Score,imaging examination (e.g. CT scan), need of surgery, intracranial pressure, laboratory tests (e.g. blood routine test, liver and kidney function, blood gas analysis, etc), the complications (e.g. pneumonia, significant bleeding) and so on.

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional (Clinical Trial)
• Actual Enrollment: 312 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Official Title: A Multi-center, Randomized, Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Long-term Mild Hypothermia in Adult Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
• Actual Study Start Date: November 12, 2013
• Actual Primary Completion Date: June 30, 2019
• Actual Study Completion Date: June 30, 2019

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Experimental: Long-term mild hypothermia; Focused intervention	Other: Long-term mild hypothermia; Hypothermia will be induced within 6 hours of injury and maintained at 34-35℃ for 5 days.Then the patients will be passively rewarmed to a temperature of 36 to 37˚C at a rate no greater than 0.5˚C/4 hours.; Other Name: Mild hypothermia therapy
Normothermia; Standard management	Other: Normothermia; Patients assigned to the normothermia group will be kept at 36-37℃.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. Neurological function [ Time Frame: 6 months post injury ]
   The neurological function will be evaluated at 6 months post injury by a specialized investigator who is unaware of the patients' allocation according to five-category Glasgow Outcome Scale as follows: 1, death; 2, vegetative state - unable to interact with the environment; 3, severe disability - unable to live independently but able to follow commands; 4, moderate disability - capable of living independently but unable to return to work or school; and 5, good recovery - able to return to work or school.

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. Intracranial pressure (ICP) control [ Time Frame: Admission, day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 14, or until the monitor is removed ]
   The effect of long-term hypothermia on ICP control will be determined.
2. Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) [ Time Frame: Admission, day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 14, day 21, day 28 post injury ]
   The neurological function improvement during study intervention will be evaluated.
3. Length of ICU stay [ Time Frame: 6 months post injury ]
   The numbers of days in the ICU.
4. Length of hospital stay [ Time Frame: 6 months post injury ]
   The numbers of days in the hospital.
5. Frequency of complications [ Time Frame: 6 months post injury ]
   Frequency of complications during the the study such as pneumonia, significant bleeding, liver and kidney function abnormality will be recorded and compared between groups.
6. Mortality rate [ Time Frame: 6 months post injury ]
   The proportion of death will be determined at 6 months post injury.

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 - 65 years within 6 hours post injury;
• Closed head injury;
• Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS) score 4 to 8 after resuscitation;
• The intracranial pressure is more than 25 mmHg;
• Cerebral contusion on computed tomographic scan.

Exclusion Criteria:

• GCS of 3 with bilateral fixed and dilated pupils;
• A life-threatening injury to an organ other than the brain;
• No spontaneous breathing or cardiac arrest at the scene of the injury;
• No consent;
• Pregnancy.

Contacts and Locations

Locations

China, Shanghai

Department of Neurosurgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Shanghai, Shanghai, China, 200127

Sponsors and Collaborators

RenJi Hospital

First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University

West China Hospital

Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University

The 101st Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army

The 98 Hospital of People's Liberation Army

Shenzhen Second People's Hospital

The 94 Hospital of People's Liberation Army

Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University

The Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces

Xiangya Hospital of Central South University

Taizhou First People's Hospital

Tang-Du Hospital

Qilu Hospital of Shandong University

Chongqing Emergency Medical Center

Xuzhou Central Hospital

The Affiliated Hospital Of Southwest Medical University

Investigators

• Principal Investigator: Jiyao Jiang, MD, PhD; Department of Neurosurgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

More Information

Additional Information:

Shanghai Institute of Head Trauma leads the research on neurotrauma nationally and has made a lot of effort in traumatic brain injury. 

Ren Ji Hospital is one of the top medical centers across China. 

Prof. Jiang holds the title of Chairman of International Neurotrauma Society. 

Publications:

Jiang JY, Xu W, Li WP, Gao GY, Bao YH, Liang YM, Luo QZ. Effect of long-term mild hypothermia or short-term mild hypothermia on outcome of patients with severe traumatic brain injury. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2006 Jun;26(6):771-6. doi: 10.1038/sj.jcbfm.9600253.

Lei J, Gao G, Mao Q, Feng J, Wang L, You W, Jiang J; LTH-1 trial collaborators. Rationale, methodology, and implementation of a nationwide multicenter randomized controlled trial of long-term mild hypothermia for severe traumatic brain injury (the LTH-1 trial). Contemp Clin Trials. 2015 Jan;40:9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2014.11.008. Epub 2014 Nov 12.

Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

Hui J, Feng J, Tu Y, Zhang W, Zhong C, Liu M, Wang Y, Long L, Chen L, Liu J, Mou C, Qiu B, Huang X, Huang Q, Zhang N, Yang X, Yang C, Li L, Ma R, Wu X, Lei J, Jiang Y, Liu L, Gao G, Jiang J; LTH-1 Trial collaborators. Safety and efficacy of long-term mild hypothermia for severe traumatic brain injury with refractory intracranial hypertension (LTH-1): A multicenter randomized controlled trial. EClinicalMedicine. 2021 Jan 28;32:100732. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100732. eCollection 2021 Feb.

• Responsible Party: Jiyao Jiang, Professor, RenJi Hospital
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01886222
• Other Study ID Numbers: RJNS001
• First Posted: June 25, 2013
• Last Update Posted: March 12, 2020
• Last Verified: March 2020

Keywords provided by Jiyao Jiang, RenJi Hospital:

Traumatic brain injury

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Brain Injuries; Brain Injuries, Traumatic; Craniocerebral Trauma; Hypothermia; Wounds and Injuries; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Trauma, Nervous System; Body Temperature Changes