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Aggressive Fever Control With Intravenous Ibuprofen After Non-traumatic Brain Hemorrhage

Aggressive Fever Control With Intravenous Ibuprofen After Non-traumatic Brain Hemorrhage

Status
Terminated
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01530880
Enrollment
35
Registered
2012-02-10
Start date
2012-10-31
Completion date
2016-03-17
Last updated
2017-08-28

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

Conditions

Fever

Keywords

Fever reduction, Fever burden, intravenous ibuprofen

Brief summary

Fever, defined as temperature higher than 38.3C (100.9 F), is common in patients with head injuries and is associated with poor recovery after injury. The current standard of care is to use oral acetaminophen (Tylenol) followed by a body cooling device. This method can effectively reduce fever but results in a high rate of shivering. Shivering is stressful to the heart and can further worsen brain injury. Methods to combat shivering have been developed and are successful in limiting the stress in the majority of patients that use a body cooling device. However, the drugs used to control shivering are sedating and may also interfere with brain recovery. The purpose of this study is to assess whether ibuprofen given intravenously is more effective in combating fever than the current standard of care. Should results from this study demonstrate that ibuprofen infusion is effective, a larger study will be conducted to determine whether this aggressive fever control regimen leads to improved recovery after brain injury.

Detailed description

This is an open-label, investigator initiated single center, randomized, prospective study. Subjects meeting enrollment criteria will be randomly assigned 1:1 to one of two groups: 1. Standard Care: Acetaminophen 650 mg via oral/nasogastric tube every 6 hours as needed for T\>=38.3 C (100.9 F) for up to post bleed day 14 or discharge from the Neuro ICU, whichever comes first. 2. Ibuprofen 400 mg/100 mL NS IV over 30 minutes, followed by a continuous infusion of 2000 mg/500 mL NS at 85 mg/hour (21 mL/hour) for up to post bleed day 14 or discharge from the Neuro ICU, whichever comes first. Patients/surrogates will be approached for consent and randomized upon admission. Therapy will only be initiated once a patient becomes febrile (\>=38.3 C, 100.9 F). The use of temperature modulating devices will be permitted as per institutionally approved guidelines in those patients continuing to demonstrate a fever (T\>38.3 C, 100.9 F) with either therapy.

Interventions

Ibuprofen 400 mg/100 mL intravenous (IV) over 30 minutes, followed by a continuous infusion of 2000 mg/500 mL at 85 mg/hour (21 mL/hour) for up to post bleed day 14 or discharge from the Neuro ICU, whichever comes first

Acetaminophen 650 mg via oral/nasogastric tube every 6 hours as needed for T\>=38.3 C (100.9 F) for up to post bleed day 14 or discharge from the Neuro ICU, whichever comes first.

Sponsors

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals
CollaboratorINDUSTRY
Columbia University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* 18 years of age or older * Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), Hunt Hess grade \>= 3, 24 hours after admission. * Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) \< 10 * Presence of intraventricular hemorrhage on initial brain computerized tomography (CT) scan

Exclusion criteria

* Imminent death within 72 hours of admission. * Plan for discharge from the Neuro intensive care unit (ICU) within 72 hours of admission. * Diagnosis with sepsis (Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria plus the presence of known or suspected infection) * Presence of coagulopathy (international normalized ratio (INR) \> 1.7) * Thrombocytopenia (platelet count \< 100,000) * History of gastrointestinal bleed * Abnormal liver function tests (aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/alkaline phosphatase (AP)/Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) 2x normal) * Hypersensitivity to ibuprofen * Pregnancy as determined by urine beta human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), or lactating postpartum women * Renal impairment (Creatinine \> 1.5 mg/dL) * Measured body weight \< 50 kg

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Prevalence of Fever BurdenUp to14 daysReduction in fever burden (degrees C x hours) with intravenous ibuprofen infusion as compared to oral acetaminophen over duration of treatment. Fever burden is calculated hourly by subtracting each patient's recorded temperature (from either a bladder or esophageal temperature probe) from 37 degrees C.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Difference in Cost Between Ibuprofen and AcetaminophenUp to 14 daysCost analysis of aggressive fever control (AFC) between patients randomized to either intravenous ibuprofen infusion or standard of care (oral acetaminophen).
Bleeding IncidenceUp to 14 daysIncidence of bleeding (defined by a priori criteria)
Mean Difference in Inflammatory MarkersUp to 14 daysMean difference in markers of inflammation between IV ibuprofen and standard of care groups

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
All Subjects
Includes subjects from both arms.
35
Total35

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicAll Subjects
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
6 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
29 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
19 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
16 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
30 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
5 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 35
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 35
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 35

Outcome results

Primary

Prevalence of Fever Burden

Reduction in fever burden (degrees C x hours) with intravenous ibuprofen infusion as compared to oral acetaminophen over duration of treatment. Fever burden is calculated hourly by subtracting each patient's recorded temperature (from either a bladder or esophageal temperature probe) from 37 degrees C.

Time frame: Up to14 days

Population: PI left before data could be analyzed and data collection was incomplete.

Secondary

Bleeding Incidence

Incidence of bleeding (defined by a priori criteria)

Time frame: Up to 14 days

Population: PI left before data could be analyzed and data collection was incomplete.

Secondary

Difference in Cost Between Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen

Cost analysis of aggressive fever control (AFC) between patients randomized to either intravenous ibuprofen infusion or standard of care (oral acetaminophen).

Time frame: Up to 14 days

Population: PI left before data could be analyzed and data collection was incomplete.

Secondary

Mean Difference in Inflammatory Markers

Mean difference in markers of inflammation between IV ibuprofen and standard of care groups

Time frame: Up to 14 days

Population: PI left before data could be analyzed and data collection was incomplete.

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