Restrictive Fluid Management In Liver Transplantation (REFIL)

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Liver Transplantation

Treatments: Procedure: Phlebotomy; Procedure: Optimized cardiac output liberal fluid management strategy; Procedure: Low splanchnic blood volume restrictive fluid management strategy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05647733

2023-11173

Details and patient eligibility

About

Hypothesis: A Canadian multicentre clinical trial is feasible. Study Design: Multicenter internal pilot parallel arm randomized controlled trial

Study population: Patients with end-stage liver disease undergoing a liver transplantation not meeting any exclusion criteria.

Primary endpoint: The primary feasibility endpoint is an overall recruitment rate ≥ 4 patients/month across all three participating sites.

Secondary endpoint: The secondary feasibility endpoints are a protocol adherence > 90%, a 30-day (or hospital discharge) and 6-month outcome measurement > 90%, and a mean difference in total intraoperative volume received (crystalloids and colloids combined) > 1000 ml between groups.

Study intervention: Low splanchnic blood volume restrictive fluid management strategy (intervention). A phlebotomy, performed prior to dissection and transfused back after graft reperfusion, combined with a hemodynamic goal-directed restrictive fluid management strategy

Optimized cardiac-output liberal fluid management strategy (control) A hemodynamic goal-directed liberal fluid management strategy that optimizes cardiac output throughout surgery

Full description

MAIN OBJECTIVE The main objective of the REFIL-1 pilot study is to establish the feasibility (recruitment, adherence, outcome measurement) of conducting a Canadian multicentre randomized controlled trial comparing an intraoperative low-splanchnic blood volume restrictive fluid management strategy to a cardiac output optimised liberal fluid management strategy in adult LT for ESLD. The hypothesis is that a Canadian multicentre clinical trial is feasible.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES The overarching objective of the ReFIL (Restrictive Fluid management In Liver transplantation) research program, which will be answered in a future large-scale trial, regards the efficacy of the proposed interventional strategy to improve postoperative outcomes in LT.

TERTIARY OBJECTIVES Our tertiary objective is to measure the cost-effectiveness of the proposed intervention based on the composite outcome of any severe postoperative complications and graft loss.

DESIGN AND STUDY POPULATION This study a multicentre internal pilot parallel arm randomized trial comparing two intraoperative hemodynamic and splanchnic blood volume management strategies in LT recipients.

Enrollment: 72 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Any adult patient ≥ 18 years of age undergoing liver transplantation for ESLD.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients undergoing LT for an indication other than ESLD such as acute liver failure, liver cancer without ESLD, retransplantation, amyloid neuropathy or any other indication not associated with ESLD.
• Patients undergoing a combined liver and lung or liver and heart transplantation.
• Patients with any of the following conditions:
• severe chronic renal failure (GFR < 15 ml/minute/1.73 m2 [CKD-EPI equation] or already on RRT);
• severe anemia (hemoglobin level < 80 g/L);76,93,109
• hemodynamic instability (norepinephrine equivalent > 10 ug/min).

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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72 participants in 2 patient groups

Restrictive group: Low splanchnic blood volume Restrictive fluid management strategy

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention group is targeted at lowering splanchnic blood volume using a phlebotomy and restricting fluid infusion, individualized to the physiological needs of this population and the distinct LT surgical phases. The strategy will first consist of performing a phlebotomy without fluid replacement at the start of surgery.We will combine it with fluid restriction to prevent excessive fluid administration and its effect on splanchnic blood volume and blood loss, combined with the effect of the phlebotomy, as well as to limit fluid overload, as previously reported. Fluid will be administered to compensate blood loss and treat severe hemodynamic instability.The phlebotomy will be transfused back at the beginning of the reperfusion phase where fluid management will be based on a goal-directed therapy (GDT) using either PPV or SV, as in the control group.

Treatment:

Procedure: Low splanchnic blood volume restrictive fluid management strategy

Procedure: Phlebotomy

Liberal group: Optimized cardiac output liberal fluid management strategy

Active Comparator group

Description:

The control group will receive a liberal intraoperative fluid management strategy optimizing cardiac output throughout the surgery. It will consist of administering 250 mL fluid boluses until SV stops to increase by more than 10% or until PPV is below 12%, a dynamic indicator of fluid responsiveness validated in many surgical populations, including ESLD patients undergoing a LT.This strategy is informed by data from recent clinical trials on benefits of GDT in major surgery, data on strategies used in major surgery, liver resection or LT and our survey on current practice.

Treatment:

Procedure: Optimized cardiac output liberal fluid management strategy