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A Comparison of Three Regimens of Acute Pain Management: Methoxyflurane; Intranasal Fentanyl; Intravenous Morphine

A Randomized Controlled, Open-label, Non-inferiority, Three Arm Clinical Study to Assess Inhalation of Low-dose Methoxyflurane, Intranasal Fentanyl, and Intravenous Morphine for Acute Pain in the Pre-hospital Setting

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05137184
Acronym
PreMeFen
Enrollment
338
Registered
2021-11-30
Start date
2021-11-12
Completion date
2023-04-22
Last updated
2023-11-14

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

Conditions

Acute Pain, Ambulances

Keywords

Methoxyflurane, Fentanyl, Morphine

Brief summary

The study rationale is to provide evidence for early, safe and effective pain management in the ambulance service with non-invasive and fast acting analgesics. Low-dose methoxyflurane and intranasal fentanyl are non-invasive medications that are well-suited for use by ambulance personnel under difficult pre-hospital settings. This is a randomized, controlled, open label, three-arm, non-inferiority, phase 3 drug trial performed in the ambulance service. The randomization will be 1:1:1 to the three treatment groups. Patients 18 years or older with acute pain with Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) ≥4 with normal physiology and capable of giving informed consent will be included null hypothesis (H0) (tested in hierarchic order a-b-c): 1. Methoxyflurane regimen is inferior to intranasal fentanyl regimen or 2. Methoxyflurane regimen is inferior to IV morphine regimen or 3. Intranasal fentanyl regimen is inferior to IV morphine regimen for treating moderate to severe pain, measured by reduction in Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) 10 minutes after administration. The study duration for each participant will be from ambulance scene arrival to patient handover in emergency department. Number of participants: Patient enrolment until successful inclusion of 270 per protocol patients. Primary endpoint is change in NRS from before administration (t0) to 10 minutes after start of administration (t10). The study intervention is one of the three IMPs: * Methoxyflurane: 3 ml inhalation, can be repeated once to a total dose of 6 ml. * Fentanyl intranasal spray: 100 µg IntraNasal, (patients \>70 years 50 µg), can be repeated to maximum total dose 500 µg IN. * Morphine hydrochloride intravenous: 0.1 mg/kg IV (patients \>70 years or fragile 0.05 mg/kg IV), can be repeated to a maximum total dose 0.5 mg/kg IV. Rescue analgesia is all analgesics other than the allocated IMP. If rescue medication is administered before the assessment of primary endpoint at 10 minutes, the patient will not be part of the per-protocol analysis. The hypothesis will be tested and the primary endpoint will be evaluated by the 95% confidence limits (95% CI), and a conclusion of non-inferiority will be made if the 95% CI of the estimated treatment difference fully lie within the inferiority margin. Non-inferiority is determined on the basis of a 1-sided equivalence t test on the per protocol population and confirmed, for sensitivity reasons, on the modified intention to treat population.

Interventions

Inhalation of Methoxyflurane

DRUGFentanyl

Intranasal Fentanyl

Intravenous Morphine

Sponsors

Sykehuset Innlandet HF
CollaboratorOTHER
Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Oslo
CollaboratorOTHER
Oslo University Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Masking description

Masking Statistician

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

1. ≥ 18 years of age 2. Acute moderate to severe pain defined by self-reporting pain ≥4 on NRS 3. Capable of giving informed consent 4. Normal physiology

Exclusion criteria

1. Life-threatening or limb-threatening condition requiring immediate management 2. Pregnancy or breastfeeding 3. Know allergies, hypersensitivity or serious side effects to opioids or methoxyflurane or other excipients 4. Head injury or medical conditions with neurological impairment (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)\<14) 5. Previous malignant hyperthermia or persons with suspect genetic predisposition for malignant hyperthermia 6. Massive facial trauma, visible nasal blockage or on-going nose bleeding 7. History of severe liver disease with jaundice and scleral icterus 8. Dialysis or history of severe renal disease (known chronic kidney failure stage 4 or 5) 9. Mono Amine Oxidase-inhibitors last 14 days (pharmacological treatment of depression, Mb Parkinson or narcolepsy) 10. Myasthenia gravis 11. Use of investigational medicinal product (IMP) analgesics 12 hours prior to inclusion 12. Any condition that in the view of the study worker would suggest that the patient is unable to comply with study protocol and procedures.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in pain Numeric Rating Scale after 10 minutes10 minutesChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) from baseline to 10 minutes after start of IMP administration

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Dose of rescue analgesia2 hoursDose of rescue analgesia administered
Change in level of sedation30 minutesChange in GCS from baseline to 10 and 30 minutes
Change in respiration30 minutesChange in respiratory rate from baseline to 10 and 30 minutes
Change in blood pressure30 minutesChange in systolic blood pressure from baseline to 10 and 30 minutes
Health Care Personnel Likert Scale2 hoursLikert Scale (1 to 5, higher is better) of health care professional satisfaction at end of mission
Patient Likert Scale2 hoursLikert Scale (1 to 5, higher is better) of patient satisfaction at end of mission
Numbers of patients with adverse events in each treatment group2 hoursRegistration of adverse events during study period until end of intervention and compare numbers of patient with adverse events in each group
Change in pain Numeric Rating Scale after 5 minutes5 minutesChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) from baseline to 5 minutes after start of IMP administration
Change in pain Numeric Rating Scale after 20 minutes20 minutesChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) from baseline to 20 minutes after start of IMP administration
Change in pain Numeric Rating Scale after 30 minutes30 minutesChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) from baseline to 30 minutes after start of IMP administration
Need for rescue analgesia2 hoursNumber of patients with administration of rescue analgesia
Type of rescue analgesia2 hoursType of rescue analgesia administered
Route of administration of rescue analgesia2 hoursRoute of administration of rescue analgesia
Time from ambulance arrival to IMP administration1 hourTime from arrival of ambulance personnel by the patient to administration of IMP
Time from ambulance arrival to 2-point NRS reduction1 hourTime from ambulance arrival to first measure of a reduction in NRS of 2 points or more

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of vascular cannulation attempts in each patient2 hoursAttempts and success of vascular cannulation access in each patient, stratified by treatment allocation
Ambulance worker competence influence on change pain Numeric Rating Scale after 10 minutes2 hoursChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) from baseline to 10 minutes after start of IMP administration stratified by ambulance worker competence (educational levels)
Ambulance worker competence influence on patient satisfaction Likert Scale2 hoursLikert Scale (1 to 5, higher is better) of patient satisfaction at end of mission, stratified by ambulance worker competence (educational levels)
Change in pain Numeric Rating Scale after 10 minutes in acute coronary syndrome patients2 hoursChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) from baseline to 10 minutes after start of IMP administration stratified by the presence of acute coronary syndrome defined by troponin elevation higher than 99 percentile or significant ST-segment elevation on any ECG lead.
Need for rescue medication related to painful procedures2 hoursProportion of patient receiving rescue treatment related to procedures (reposition of fractures, relocation etc)
Change in pain Numeric Rating Scale after 10 minutes stratified by diagnosis groups30 minutesChange in Pain Numeric Rating Scale (minimum 0 and maximum 10, higher is worse) stratified by diagnosis groups

Countries

Norway

Outcome results

None listed

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