Diagnostic Strategy for Suspected Pulmonary Embolism Based on 4PEPS (SPEED&PEPS)

University Hospital, Angers

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Pulmonary Embolism

Treatments: Diagnostic Test: 4PEPS strategy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06015529

36553108

Details and patient eligibility

About

The increased use of diagnostic imaging and especially computed tomography pulmonary angiography in patients suspected of pulmonary embolism (PE) is an important point of concerns.

The goal of this pragmatic cluster-randomized trial is to compare the diagnostic strategy based on the four-level pulmonary embolism probability score (4PEPS) and current practices.

The main questions it aims to answer is: "Does the diagnostic strategy based on 4PEPS significantly reduce the use of thoracic imaging without increasing the risk of serious adverse events as compared to current diagnostic practices?" Patients suspected of having PE in the participating emergency departments will be included and followed for 90 days. In ten centers, the emergency physicians will apply the 4PEPS strategy and in ten other centers, the emergency physicians will be free to do as they see fit. Researchers will compare the two groups of patients to see if the rate of diagnostic thoracic imaging tests and the rate of adverse events related to diagnostic strategies will differ.

Full description

Several strategies have been devised to safely limit the use of thoracic imaging in patients suspected of pulmonary embolism (PE). However, they are based on different rules for clinical probability (CP) assessment, rendering their combination difficult. The four-level pulmonary embolism probability score (4PEPS) allows the combination of all other strategies using a single CP assessment. Methods and analysis: SPEED&PEPS is a pragmatic cluster-randomized trial. After a preliminary period aimed to assess the possibility of inclusions and current practices in 23 Emergency Departments (ED), 20 EDs will be selected to participate to the active phase and randomization. Half of the centers will be allocated to the control group where physicians will be free to do as they see fit but they will be given the recommendation to apply a validated strategy. Half of the centers will be allocated to the interventional group where the physicians will be given the recommendation to apply the 4PEPS strategy. Patients with suspected PE will be included and followed for 90 days (anticipated number of patients to be included: 2560, 1280 in each arm). The primary objective will be to demonstrate that the application of the 4PEPS strategy by emergency physicians, in comparison to current practices, (i) does not increase the risk of serious events related to diagnostic strategies and (ii) significantly reduces the use of thoracic imaging. If successful, the SPEED&PEPS trial will have an important impact for patients suspected of PE limiting their irradiation and for public health in substantial savings in terms of the direct cost of diagnostic investigations and the indirect cost of hospitalizations due to waiting times or delayed harmful effects. Funding: This work is funded by a French Public Health grant (PREPS-N 2019). The funding source plays no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation or the writing of the manuscript.

Enrollment: 2,951 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Admission to an emergency department participating in the study.
• Suspected PE due to thoracic symptoms (dyspnea, chest pain, or hemoptysis) and/or syncope without any other obvious explanation after clinical examination and possible additional first-line tests (ECG, chest X-ray, or routine lab work-up).

Exclusion criteria

• Age < 18 years.
• Known result of a specific diagnostic imaging examination for PE (thoracic CT angiography, pulmonary scintigraphy, or venous ultrasound of the lower limbs).
• Hemodynamic instability (systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg or more than 40 mmHg lower than usual for more than 15 min).
• Curative dose of anticoagulant in place for more than two days prior to inclusion.
• Pregnant or parturient patient.
• Patient in detention by judicial or administrative decision.
• Patient undergoing compulsory psychiatric treatment.
• Patient placed under a legal protection measure.
• Patient who objects to participating in the research (preliminary phase) or is unable to give free and informed consent (active phase).

Trial design

Primary purpose: Diagnostic

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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2,951 participants in 2 patient groups

Control group - current practices

No Intervention group

Description:

The investigating physicians of the participating centers in the control group will be free to provide care as they see fit. However, a reminder of national and European guidelines for PE management will be given to them and they will have the recommendation to apply a validated strategy. To make it easier, the different scores will be included in the clinical help-decision support software called SPEED. Investigators will be asked to enter data about the included patients directly into SPEED, which will act as the study's electronic case report form (eCRF). A paper version of the CRF will also be available.

Intervention group - 4PEPS strategy

Active Comparator group

Description:

Physicians of the participating centers in the intervention group will have the recommendation to apply the 4PEPS strategy. To make it easier to apply, the 4PEPS score will be included in SPEED. Investigators will be asked to enter the information relating to patients included in the study directly into SPEED before performing any testing. Entering these data will enable the 4PEPS score to be calculated automatically and specific recommendations to be provided. A paper version of the CRF will also be available

Treatment:

Diagnostic Test: 4PEPS strategy