Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02575079

Parafilm to Prevent CLABSI in Pediatric Patients Undergoing HCT

The purpose of this study is to see if applying parafilm as an external barrier on the central line in children having a bone marrow transplant helps to prevent central line associated bloodstream infection(s) and also to assess the ease of use of parafilm.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) Bone Marrow Transplant

Age range

Up to 21 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, United States

About this study

Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) result in significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). HCT patients are at high risk for CLABSI due to multiple factors, including prolonged immune suppression and the need for long-term central venous access. The investigators want to assess the feasibility of the use of a parafilm central line barrier (parafilm) as standard of care in pediatric HCT patients. The investigators will also assess the effectiveness of the parafilm to reduce the incidence of CLABSI in these patients.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Must be between the age of 0 and 21 years at the time of enrollment
  • Must be undergoing allogeneic or autologous HCT for a malignant or non-malignant disorder
  • Must have or be scheduled to have a tunneled CVC

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients undergoing other interventions to prevent CLABSI (e.g. Children's Oncology Group (COG) study ACCL1034 with Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG); antimicrobial lock therapy, etc.)
  • Patients who only have a port

Treatment and study plan

Parafilm

Device

Single-use, pre-cut sections of parafilm over the central venous catheter (CVC) hub (if not connected) or around the CVC hub connection (if connected). Parafilm will be maintained on the CVC until it is removed.

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI)

    Time frame: Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)

    Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) is the identification of a bacterial infection from a blood culture drawn from a central venous catheter (CVC) in the absence of a primary source of infection from another body site. The CLABSI rate (total number of CLABSI/1000 catheter-days) in parafilm study participants will be calculated and compared to the CLABSI rate in a historical cohort of pediatric patients who are serving as a control group.

  2. Reported Inpatient Percentage of Central-line Days With Correctly Applied Parafilm

    Time frame: At discharge (an expected average of 6 weeks from admission)

    In the inpatient setting, compliance was measured by once daily recording of parafilm change by nursing in the electronic medical record. These data were significantly limited by electronic medical record charting on parafilm change being required only once per day. Thus, once daily data collection failed to capture daily parafilm change, given multiple nursing shifts on a single calendar day. Nonetheless, the percentage of catheter-days with intact correctly applied parafilm, as reported by nursing staff, was calculated.

  3. Observed Inpatient Percentage of Catheter-days With Correctly Applied Parafilm

    Time frame: Time between initial bone marrow transplant (BMT) discharge and either central venous line (CVL) removal or transfer back to primary MD (an expected average of 2-3 months)

    Observed compliance occurred during weekly line rounds. Rounding providers indicated whether a patient's parafilm is intact and correctly applied, not applied, or incorrectly applied or not intact. The percentage of "observed catheter-days" where patients had correct use of intact parafilm were to be calculated. To track observed inpatient compliance with applying parafilm, data fields were added to the entered to the nursing charts of the participant's electronic medical record (EMR). The primary field added was a no/question about parafilm applied. Per study protocol, the intent was to document nursing changing of the parafilm, at the time it was changed. However, on reviewing the data, it appears that nursing just charted once per day whether they had changed parafilm or not, while the parafilm may have been changed earlier by a different nurse.

  4. Reported Outpatient Percentage of Catheter-days With Correctly Applied Parafilm

    Time frame: Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)

    For outpatient reported compliance, parents of study participants provided their logs to outpatient staff who documented the number of days parafilm was correctly in use/intact vs not in use or incorrectly in use/not intact. The cumulative percentage of catheter-days where parafilm was intact was calculated.

  5. Observed Outpatient Percentage of Catheter-days With Correctly Applied Parafilm

    Time frame: Time between initial BMT discharge and either CVL removal or transfer back to primary MD (an expected average of 2-3 months)

    For observed compliance, the outpatient nurse recorded whether the patient's parafilm was correctly applied/intact (yes), not applied (no), or incorrectly applied/not intact (yes-inc) at the beginning of the visit. The percentage of outpatient "observed catheter-days" where parafilm was correctly in use/intact was calculated.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of Antibiotic Treatment Courses Per Participant

    Time frame: Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)

    The number of antibiotic treatment courses per participant in the parafilm study will be recorded.

  2. Duration of Antibiotic Treatment Exposure

    Time frame: Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)

    Total duration of antibiotic treatment exposure (excluding prophylactic antibiotics) among participants in the parafilm study will be reported.

  3. Number of ICU Admissions Secondary to Sepsis

    Time frame: Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)

    The cumulative number of ICU admissions secondary to sepsis among participants in the parafilm study is reported.

  4. Death

    Time frame: Baseline (at the time of placement of the CVC or admission for HCT, whichever occurs later) to end of study (CVC removal or transfer back to primary service, whichever occurs sooner, average of 3 months)

    Deaths from infection and death from any cause among participants in the parafilm study are reported.

  5. Perception of Parafilm

    Time frame: Month 3 (average time till removal of CVC)

    The perception of parafilm from provider and caregiver surveys regarding parafilm ease of use, perceived benefit, and other parameters will be reported

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Emory University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Parafilm Application to Prevent Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2018
Study completion
2018
First posted
Oct 14, 2015
Registry last updated
Jun 25, 2019

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.