NCT02334124

Brief Summary

Many children every year present to the Emergency Department (ED) at The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) with cellulitis (skin infection). If it is mild, the children can go home with oral antibiotic treatment. If it is complicated and severe, these children are admitted to hospital for intravenous (IV, through a drip) antibiotic treatment. There is a middle group with uncomplicated moderate/severe cellulitis who require IV antibiotics but who are not acutely unwell. In order to determine whether it is just as effective for children with uncomplicated moderate to severe cellulitis to receive antibiotic treatment at home (via Hospital-In-The-Home) as it is to receive antibiotic treatment in hospital, there is a need to conduct a larger study and randomly assign children to receive either HITH or hospital ward care. The primary research question to be addressed is: In children with moderate/severe uncomplicated cellulitis, is the failure rate at 2 days following the first dose of antibiotic non-inferior for children treated with IV antibiotics at home compared to the failure rate at 2 days following the first dose for children treated with IV antibiotics in hospital?

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
190

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Jan 2015

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

January 1, 2015

Completed
3 days until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

January 4, 2015

Completed
4 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

January 8, 2015

Completed
2.4 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

June 1, 2017

Completed
5.4 years until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

November 1, 2022

Completed
Last Updated

November 8, 2022

Status Verified

November 1, 2022

Enrollment Period

2.4 years

First QC Date

January 4, 2015

Last Update Submit

November 7, 2022

Conditions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Treatment failure (inadequate clinical improvement, adverse event)

    The primary outcome is failure of treatment defined as no clinical improvement of cellulitis within 2 days of treatment from the start of the first antibiotic dose given in the ED. Any change of initial empiric antibiotics within 2 days from commencement due to: * inadequate clinical improvement or * adverse events as determined by treating physician will be considered a treatment failure.

    Within 2 days of commencing empiric antibiotic

Secondary Outcomes (13)

  • Time to no progression

    Within 3 days

  • Time to discharge

    14 days

  • Readmission rate

    28 days

  • Representation to ED

    28 days

  • ED Length of stay

    2 days

  • +8 more secondary outcomes

Other Outcomes (1)

  • Microbiome

    1 year

Study Arms (2)

Home

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients will be treated at home through the Hospital-In-The-Home program with intravenous once daily ceftriaxone (50mg/kg once daily), administered by a nurse/doctor visiting once daily.

Other: HomeDrug: ceftriaxone

Ward

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Patients will be admitted to hospital ward and treated with six hourly flucloxacillin (50mg/kg), administered by a ward nurse as per routine practice.

Other: WardDrug: flucloxacillin

Interventions

HomeOTHER

The main intervention is for children with uncomplicated cellulitis to remain at home throughout the period of intravenous treatment but as it is not feasible to administer flucloxacillin four times a day by the Hospital-In-The-Home team, once daily ceftriaxone is the most ideal antibiotic to be given to this group

Home
WardOTHER

Admission to a hospital based ward

Ward

50mg/kg once daily

Home

50mg/kg 6 hourly

Ward

Eligibility Criteria

Age6 Months - 18 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsChild (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

  • Children aged 6 months to 18 years
  • Children presenting to RCH ED with moderate/severe cellulitis
  • Moderate/severe: defined in this study, as those assessed by ED clinician to need IV antibiotics
  • Reasons for starting IV antibiotics include:
  • Failed oral therapy (not improving despite 24h of oral therapy)
  • Rapidly spreading redness (from patient/parent history)
  • Significant swelling/redness/pain
  • Systemic symptoms/signs (eg. fever, lethargy)
  • Difficult to treat areas (eg. face, ear, toe)

You may not qualify if:

  • Children will be excluded:
  • With orbital cellulitis or unable to exclude orbital cellulitis,
  • With penetrating injury/bites,
  • With suspected fasciitis or myositis,
  • With toxicity: tachycardia when afebrile or hypotension (both as per the limits set out by RCH Resuscitation Card), poor central perfusion (capillary refill \>2 seconds)
  • With immunosuppression,
  • With varicella,
  • With suspected/confirmed foreign body,
  • With abscess not drained,
  • With dental abscess,
  • With concurrent sinusitis or otitis media or lymphadenitis necessitating different antibiotic treatment to flucloxacillin monotherapy or ceftriaxone monotherapy,
  • With liver co-morbidities
  • With other medical diagnoses warranting admission to hospital for observation or treatment relating to the known medical condition
  • With difficult intravenous access,
  • Age \<6 months old,
  • +1 more criteria

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne

Parkville, Victoria, 3072, Australia

Location

Related Publications (3)

  • Ibrahim LF, Huang L, Hopper SM, Dalziel K, Babl FE, Bryant PA. Intravenous ceftriaxone at home versus intravenous flucloxacillin in hospital for children with cellulitis: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 Oct;19(10):1101-1108. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30288-9. Epub 2019 Aug 13.

  • Ibrahim LF, Hopper SM, Orsini F, Daley AJ, Babl FE, Bryant PA. Efficacy and safety of intravenous ceftriaxone at home versus intravenous flucloxacillin in hospital for children with cellulitis (CHOICE): a single-centre, open-label, randomised, controlled, non-inferiority trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 May;19(5):477-486. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30729-1. Epub 2019 Mar 7.

  • Ibrahim LF, Babl FE, Orsini F, Hopper SM, Bryant PA. Cellulitis: Home Or Inpatient in Children from the Emergency Department (CHOICE): protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2016 Jan 11;6(1):e009606. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009606.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Cellulitis

Interventions

Home Care ServicesCeftriaxoneFloxacillin

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Skin Diseases, InfectiousInfectionsSuppurationConnective Tissue DiseasesSkin and Connective Tissue DiseasesInflammationPathologic ProcessesPathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Community Health ServicesHealth ServicesHealth Care Facilities Workforce and ServicesNursing ServicesCefotaximeCephacetrileCephalosporinsbeta-LactamsLactamsAmidesOrganic ChemicalsThiazinesSulfur CompoundsHeterocyclic Compounds, 2-RingHeterocyclic Compounds, Fused-RingHeterocyclic CompoundsCloxacillinOxacillinPenicillins

Study Officials

  • Laila F Ibrahim, MBBChBAO

    Royal Children's Hospital

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Dr Laila Ibrahim, MBBChBAO, PhD Student

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

January 4, 2015

First Posted

January 8, 2015

Study Start

January 1, 2015

Primary Completion

June 1, 2017

Study Completion

November 1, 2022

Last Updated

November 8, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-11

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share

Locations