Simvastatin in Colorectal Surgery — StatCol  

Perioperative Care Clinical Trial

Official title: Prospective, Double-Blinded, Multi-Centred, Randomised Controlled Trial of Perioperative Simvastatin Use in Elective Colorectal Surgery

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a widely used class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that have an established role in the medical management of cardiovascular disease. Their benefits have also been shown in the surgical setting with decreased cardiovascular complications and lower perioperative mortality following cardiac and vascular surgery. There is now considerable evidence showing statins have useful pleiotropic properties that extend beyond cholesterol lowering, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, immunomodulatory and fibrinolytic effects. Growing evidence suggests these effects may be useful in attenuating the proinflammatory and metabolic stress response to surgery and the benefit of statins may extend to other surgical settings such as abdominal surgery.

Laboratory studies demonstrate the surgically-relevant benefits of statins and show they decrease peritoneal inflammation, reduce the severity of intestinal ischaemia-reperfusion injury, improve survival in models of abdominal sepsis, decrease the formation of postoperative intraperitoneal adhesions and improve the healing of colonic anastomoses. Retrospective clinical studies show statins improve outcomes in sepsis, reduce the postoperative systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and are associated with decreased rates of surgical wound infections and postoperative respiratory complications following various non-cardiac general surgical procedures. However, no prospective studies have specifically evaluated the perioperative use of statins in abdominal surgery. Using colorectal surgery as a model for major abdominal surgery, the investigators will conduct a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of perioperative statin use on postoperative morbidity, local and systemic inflammatory response, and functional recovery after surgery.

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Intestinal Neoplasm
• Intestinal Neoplasms
• Perioperative Care

• NCT number: NCT00994903
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: October 2011
• Completion date: September 2013