Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
NCT number |
NCT04512950 |
Other study ID # |
0778 |
Secondary ID |
|
Status |
Completed |
Phase |
Phase 4
|
First received |
|
Last updated |
|
Start date |
August 15, 2016 |
Est. completion date |
June 13, 2020 |
Study information
Verified date |
June 2023 |
Source |
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute |
Contact |
n/a |
Is FDA regulated |
No |
Health authority |
|
Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
The aim of the FLUID Trial is to conduct a pragmatic, multi-centre, open label randomized
cluster cross-over trial (RCT) to determine whether fluid administration with 0.9% saline as
compared to Ringer's lactate decreases death or re-admission to hospital with 90 days of the
index admission.
Description:
Crystalloid fluids are used extensively for acutely ill patients who are admitted to
hospital. Two fluids most commonly used are 0.9% saline and Ringer's Lactate. Both are used
to rehydrate patients, restore fluid volume and help stabilize blood pressure and failing
organ and both have been used for several decades. Until recently, it was thought the fluids
are essentially equivalent other than some minor differences related to the concentration of
salt components (sodium and chloride) and buffers (Ringer's Lactate has lactate as a buffer).
The safety of 0.9% saline is now being questioned due to its high chloride content and its
association with the development of hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Until recently, the
evidence base supporting the superiority of Ringer's Lactate has been derived from
observational studies. Two recent pilot studies in critically ill patients comparing 0.9%
saline to balanced crystalloid fluids (Ringer's lactate and/or Plasma-Lyte, another balanced
crystalloid) did not detect clinical outcome differences between the fluid groups, but the
trials were not powered to do so. Furthermore, two multiple period cluster cross-over studies
conducted at one institution comparing 0.9% saline to balanced crystalloids (Ringer's lactate
and Plasma-Lyte) in the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) found small
differences in a composite outcome which included death, requirement for dialysis or
persistent renal dysfunction, in favor of balanced crystalloids. In contrast, two large
multi-centre randomized trials (BaSICS, n=11 052 and PLUS, n=5037) examined the efficacy of
NS as compared with a balanced crystalloid (RL and Plasma-Lyte 148, respectively) on the
primary outcome 90-day mortality. Neither of these trials detected a difference in 90-day
mortality; in BaSICS, the mortality rate was 22.0% versus 21.8%; in PLUS, mortality was 27.2%
versus 26.4%. Renal function did not differ between the fluid groups in either trial,
although the PLUS trial was stopped early due to recruitment challenges and insufficient
funding during the pandemic. In a systematic review of 13 critical care trials to January
2022 and 35 884 participants, there were no detectable differences in renal function. In low
risk of bias trials, there was no significant difference in mortality for the 0.9% saline as
compared with balanced crystalloid group (28.2% and 27.9%, respectively; relative risk (RR)
0.96 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.01)), nor renal function. However, authors concluded that there is a
high probability balanced crystalloids reduce death since the CIs ranged from a 9% relative
reduction to a 1% relative increase in death. Authors and editorialists urge the conduct of
large multi-centre randomized trials, with longer-term patient centred outcomes supported by
health economic evaluations to provide confirmatory evidence to guide future clinical
practice and resource allocation related to these usual care crystalloid fluids.
Small differences in clinical outcomes between crystalloid resuscitation fluids are highly
relevant. Furthermore, small absolute differences in important clinical outcomes may
translate into substantial savings to hospitals and the health care system. The FLUID trial
will determine if there are differences in the clinically important outcomes of death and
hospital re-admissions. FLUID is novel in its design because it is a hospital wide pragmatic
cluster cross-over comparative effectiveness trial that will be conducted in both academic
and community sites which will use provincial health administrative data available through
the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) for all clinical data collection. Our
trial will answer this fundamental fluid resuscitation question and determine if Ringer's
Lactate is superior to 0.9% saline at much lower cost in comparison to an individual patient
randomized controlled trial (RCT), or even a conventional cluster RCT.