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Oxytocin Maintenance Infusion in Labouring Women Undergoing Cesarean Delivery: an Up-down Sequential Allocation Study

Oxytocin Maintenance Infusion in Labouring Women Undergoing Cesarean Delivery: an Up-down Sequential Allocation Study

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05290129
Enrollment
40
Registered
2022-03-22
Start date
2022-08-17
Completion date
2026-12-01
Last updated
2026-04-06

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

Conditions

Postpartum Hemorrhage

Keywords

Cesarean delivery, oxytocin, uterotonic, pregnancy, labour

Brief summary

This study is designed to determine the minimal effective oxytocin maintenance infusion required in labouring women undergoing cesarean delivery to achieve the best effect. Oxytocin is a drug that is routinely used to help the uterus to contract and keep it contracted after delivery. Consequently, it will help to reduce blood loss after delivery. In order to determine the minimal effective dose, the investigators will conduct a dose-finding study. The first patient will receive a set oxytocin infusion. The next patient's infusion dose of oxytocin, will either increase or decrease, depending on how the previous patient responds in terms of uterine tone. If the response is satisfactory with the infusion dose used, the next patient will either receive the same infusion dose or it will be decreased depending on a probability of 1:9. If the response is not satisfactory, then the infusion dose will increase for the next patient. The dose for each patient will be determined based on the results of the uterine contraction of the previous patient. The investigators hypothesize that the ED90 of the oxytocin infusion rate to maintain adequate uterine tone in labouring women with induced or augmented labour undergoing cesarean delivery, following an initial effective bolus dose, would be lower than 0.74 IU/min (44 IU/h), which was found as the ED90 in a previous study, without an initial bolus dose prior to the infusion.

Detailed description

This study will be conducted as a prospective, double blinded clinical trial (patient, anesthesiologist and obstetrician blinded to the oxytocin dose), in an up-down sequential allocation fashion. The objective of the study is to determine the minimum effective dose of oxytocin infusion required to produce appropriate uterine contraction during and after cesarean delivery under neuraxial anesthesia in laboring women. For the purpose of this study, the minimum effective dose is defined to be that at which adequate response occurs in 90% of patients, i.e. ED90.

Interventions

DRUGOxytocin

Oxytocin will be prepared in a 1L bag of Ringer's lactate, to be infused at a rate of 125 ml/h.

Sponsors

Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Intervention model description

Biased coin up-and-down design.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

• All patients with induced or augmented labour undergoing cesarean delivery under neuraxial anesthesia (at least 3 hours of prior exposure to oxytocin during labour)

Exclusion criteria

* All patients who refuse to give written informed consent * All patients who declare allergy or hypersensitivity to oxytocin * A history of hypertension and/or severe cardiac disease(s) * All patients who have contraindications for neuraxial anesthesia * All patients who will be converted to general anesthesia intraoperatively * All patients with placenta previa and multiple gestation

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Uterine tone up to discharge from the post anesthetic care unit (PACU): questionnaire2 hoursUterine tone will be evaluated as satisfactory or unsatisfactory by the obstetrician throughout the surgery, starting at 5 minutes after the oxytocin infusion. It will also be measured at 10 minutes following the oxytocin infusion and every 10 minutes following that for the duration of the surgery. Unsatisfactory uterine tone at any time until discharge from the PACU will be considered a failure of the maintenance infusion.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Calculated blood loss24 hoursEstimated blood loss will be calculated using the difference in hematocrit values prior to surgery and 24 hours post surgery, using the following formula: Calculated blood loss (mL) = EBV ((Pre-op Htc-Post-op Htc)/pre-op Htc) EBV (estimated blood volume) in ml: patient's weight in kg x 85.
Need for blood transfusion24 hoursBlood product administered.
Episodes of bleeding postpartum24 hoursNumber of episodes of bleeding postpartum up to 24 hours post delivery.
Intraoperative requirement for additional uterotonic medication1 hourA request made by the obstetrician performing the cesarean delivery for additional uterotonic medication, due to bleeding or poor uterine tone.
Requirement for additional uterotonic medication in the PACU2 hoursAny uterotonic medication administered while the patient is in PACU
Requirement for additional uterotonic medication from discharge from the PACU until 24 hours postpartum.24 hoursAny uterotonic medication administered after the patient is discharged from PACU until 24 hours postpartum.
Hypotension: systolic blood pressure less than 80% of baseline2 hoursSystolic blood pressure \< 80% of baseline, from drug administration until end of surgery
Hypertension: systolic blood pressure greater than 120% of baseline2 hoursSystolic blood pressure \> 120% of baseline, from drug administration until end of surgery
Tachycardia: heart rate greater than 130% of baseline2 hoursHeart rate \> 130% of baseline, from drug administration until end of surgery
Bradycardia: heart rate less than 70% of baseline2 hoursHeart rate \< 70% of baseline or a heart rate \< 50bpm, from drug administration until end of surgery
Presence of ventricular tachycardia: ECG2 hoursPresence of ventricular tachycardia as recorded by ECG, from drug administration until end of surgery
Presence of atrial fibrillation: ECG2 hoursPresence of atrial fibrillation as recorded by ECG, from drug administration until end of surgery
Presence of atrial flutter: ECG2 hoursPresence of atrial flutter as recorded by ECG, from drug administration until end of surgery
Presence of nausea: questionnaire2 hoursThe presence of nausea and number of episodes, from drug administration until end of surgery, as reported by the patient
Presence of vomiting: questionnaire2 hoursThe presence of vomiting and number of episodes, from drug administration until end of surgery
Presence of chest pain: questionnaire2 hoursAny presence of chest pain, from drug administration until end of surgery, as reported by the patient
Presence of shortness of breath: questionnaire2 hoursAny presence of shortness of breath, from drug administration until end of surgery, as reported by the patient
Presence of headache: questionnaire2 hoursAny presence of headache, from drug administration until end of surgery, as reported by the patient

Countries

Canada

Contacts

CONTACTMrinalini Balki, MD
mrinalini.balki@uhn.ca416-586-4800
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMrinalini Balki, MD

MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 7, 2026