Skip to content

Evaluation of Endoscopic Surgical Field Clarity Using Hot Saline Versus Lactated Ringer's Irrigation

Evaluation of Endoscopic Surgical Field Clarity Using Hot Saline Versus Lactated Ringer's Irrigation

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05161780
Enrollment
47
Registered
2021-12-17
Start date
2022-02-09
Completion date
2024-06-13
Last updated
2024-11-12

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

Conditions

Irrigation

Brief summary

This study is designed to determine whether Normal Saline or Lactated Ringer's irrigation is superior in maintaining superior endoscopic surgical field clarity in surgery for pituitary adenoma.

Detailed description

The aims of this study are to determine whether the endoscopic surgical view is objectively clearer using Normal Saline versus Lactated Ringer's Irrigation during endoscopic skull base surgery for pituitary adenoma. Other objectives include determining whether lactated Ringer's irrigation decreases total estimated blood loss and whether use of lactated Ringer's irrigation shortens surgical time. Hot saline irrigation at 40 degrees Celcius has been shown to improve endoscopic surgical field clarity and its use is common practice in both endoscopic inflammatory sinus surgeries and skull base procedures. Saline irrigation dilutes blood in the surgical field keeping the endoscopic view clean and more bloodless and the elevated temperature promotes hemostasis. Preliminary evidence suggests that the use of calcium-containing irrigant may further improve endoscopic surgical views. This mechanism is thought to be mediated through the activation of platelets and providing a calcium source to calcium-dependent factors in the coagulation cascade thereby promoting hemostasis. Using lactated Ringer's, a calcium-containing fluid, may result in improved surgeon visualization, decreased blood loss, and decreased complications during endoscopic approaches to the skull base.

Interventions

DRUGLactated Ringer's Irrigation

Lactated Ringers at 40C will be used for the entirety of the surgery including the approach and exposure of the tumor as well as tumor resection, After surgery, two blinded skull base surgeon reviewers will rate the clarity of the endoscopic field of view at the recorded intervals. The surgical field will be graded using a widely accepted numeric integer (Boezaart) scale.

DRUGNormal Saline

Normal Saline at 40C will be used for the entirety of the surgery including the approach and exposure of the tumor as well as tumor resection, After surgery, two blinded skull base surgeon reviewers will rate the clarity of the endoscopic field of view at the recorded intervals. The surgical field will be graded using a widely accepted numeric integer (Boezaart) scale.

Sponsors

Carl Snyderman
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)

Masking description

The surgeon will be blinded to the type of irrigation being used

Intervention model description

Participants will consist of 30 patients undergoing skull base surgery for a Pituitary Adenoma. This study will be a prospective double blinded randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of normal saline versus Lactated Ringer's in achieving clarity of the surgical field during endoscopic skull base surgery.

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* Any patient with a primary pituitary adenoma, macro or micro adenoma.

Exclusion criteria

* Age \<18 * Pregnancy * Revision surgery * Non-surgical candidate due to medical, surgical, or anesthesia contraindications

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Boezaart scale rating video clips10 minutesRating for each of the three recorded video clips per patient following tumor ablation. The Boezaart is an ordinal scale 0 = No bleeding 1 = Minimal bleeding: Not a surgical nuisance and no suction required 2 = Mild bleeding: Occasional suction required, but does not affect dissection 3 = Moderate bleeding: Slightly compromises surgical field, frequent suction required 4 = Severe bleeding: Significantly compromises surgical field, frequent suction required, bleeding threat field just after removal of suction 5 = Massive bleeding: Prevent dissection.
Time10 minutesTime between tumor ablation and the completion of hemostasis, or total irrigation time for patients undergoing normal saline or Lactated Ringer's irrigation during their surgical case.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Estimated Blood Loss (EBL)15 min(EBL) per case and total operative time

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

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