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Early Whole Blood in Patients Requiring Transfusion After Major Trauma

Early Whole Blood in Patients Requiring Transfusion After Major Trauma

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01227005
Enrollment
107
Registered
2010-10-22
Start date
2011-05-31
Completion date
2012-12-31
Last updated
2018-06-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Trauma/Injury Problem

Keywords

Transfusion, Whole Blood, Trauma, Coagulopathy, Component Therapy, Civilian, Military

Brief summary

The proposal will assess if patients who require massive transfusion can be accurately predicted early after emergency department arrival and assess if the use of stored whole blood during initial resuscitation will reduce transfusion needs compared to transfusion with component therapy and thus improve outcome.

Detailed description

Background: The acquired coagulopathy of trauma is responsible for a large percentage of early deaths in civilian trauma practice and is a major cause of battlefield mortality. Widespread recognition has provided a rationale for fundamental changes in the initial management of severely injured patients through prevention of hypothermia, damage control surgery, massive transfusion protocols and early triage to intensive care units for optimized resuscitation. Despite these major advances, hemorrhage remains a leading cause of early death in both civilian trauma and military combat casualty care. However, it is unclear how early whole blood will affect coagulopathy in this cohort of patients as compared to the current standard of care. Objective/Hypothesis: The proposal will assess if patients who require massive transfusion can be accurately predicted early after emergency department arrival and assess if the use of stored whole blood during initial resuscitation will reduce transfusion needs compared to transfusion with component therapy and thus improve outcome. Study Design: As a first step in testing this hypothesis, we will test commonly utilized point of care analysis devices and determine their reliability in predicting transfusion requirements in severely injured trauma patients within 20 minutes after arrival in the emergency department. Furthermore, we will prospectively randomize severely injured patients who require a blood transfusion to receive either stored whole blood and pooled platelets or component therapy (packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, and platelets, our current standard of care) and compare the ability of stored whole blood to reduce transfusion needs and improve clinical outcomes. Relevance: Severe uncontrollable coagulopathy in major trauma patients continues to be a major determinant of trauma mortalities. The proposed effort aims to provide an early, coagulopathy-based prediction model to identify patients at risk for massive transfusion. Moreover, our proposal intends to evaluate early stored whole blood transfusion in this at risk patient population and determine stored whole blood's ability to prevent or control severe coagulopathy compared to standard transfusion care.

Interventions

The intervention will be either a) administration of 1 unit of whole blood plus pooled products or b) administration of component therapy (red blood cells, plasma, platelets).

Sponsors

U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command
CollaboratorFED
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. 18 years of age or older. 2. Meet Code 3 status; Code 3 is determined by the following criteria (Patients must meet at least one of the following physiologic and/or anatomic criteria): * Physiologic criteria indicating high risk or life threatening injuries * GCS \<10 (Glasgow Coma Scale) * SBP \<90 (Systolic blood pressure) * RR \<10 or \>29 (Respiratory rate) * HR \>120 (Heart rate) * intubated * Base Deficit \> 6 * Anatomic criteria indicating high risk or life threatening injuries * Any penetrating injury to torso, groin, or neck * Amputation proximal to the ankle or wrist * Uncontrolled external hemorrhage * Two or more long bone fractures * Pelvic fracture * Paraplegia or quadriplegia * Combination trauma with burns ≥ 20% BSA (body surface area) 3. Demonstrate evidence of blood loss due to injury, requiring transfusion in the ED.

Exclusion criteria

1. Death thought to be imminent, suggesting a futile resuscitation effort 2. Known or assumed religious objection to blood products 3. Do not resuscitate order in place 4. Women who present to the ED who are obviously pregnant. 5. Patients who appear to the ED wearing the -opt-out‖ bracelet provided at the community consultation.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Units of Blood Products Required During the First 24 Hours After Emergency Department Admissionfirst 24 hours after ED admissionCompare the ability of whole blood to reduce initial 24-hour transfusion requirements as compared to component therapy (red blood cells, plasma, and platelet units)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
24-hour MortalityFirst 24 hours after ED admissionMortality rate at 24 hours after arrival
30-day Mortalityfirst 30 days after ED admissionEvaluate 30-day mortality among those receiving whole blood compared to those receiving component therapy

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Whole Blood
Whole Blood plus pooled platelets Transfusion of blood products: The intervention will be either a) administration of 1 unit of whole blood plus pooled products or b) administration of component therapy (red blood cells, plasma, platelets).
55
Component Therapy
Red blood cells, plasma, platelets Transfusion of blood products: The intervention will be either a) administration of 1 unit of whole blood plus pooled products or b) administration of component therapy (red blood cells, plasma, platelets).
52
Total107

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicWhole BloodComponent TherapyTotal
Age, Continuous40 years38 years39 years
Region of Enrollment
United States
55 participants52 participants107 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
12 Participants9 Participants21 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
43 Participants43 Participants86 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
1 / 550 / 52
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 550 / 52

Outcome results

Primary

Units of Blood Products Required During the First 24 Hours After Emergency Department Admission

Compare the ability of whole blood to reduce initial 24-hour transfusion requirements as compared to component therapy (red blood cells, plasma, and platelet units)

Time frame: first 24 hours after ED admission

ArmMeasureValue (MEDIAN)
Whole BloodUnits of Blood Products Required During the First 24 Hours After Emergency Department Admission12 units of blood
Component TherapyUnits of Blood Products Required During the First 24 Hours After Emergency Department Admission13 units of blood
Secondary

24-hour Mortality

Mortality rate at 24 hours after arrival

Time frame: First 24 hours after ED admission

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Whole Blood24-hour Mortality12 participants
Component Therapy24-hour Mortality7 participants
Secondary

30-day Mortality

Evaluate 30-day mortality among those receiving whole blood compared to those receiving component therapy

Time frame: first 30 days after ED admission

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Whole Blood30-day Mortality15 participants
Component Therapy30-day Mortality8 participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026