Effect of Antibiotic Choice On ReNal Outcomes (ACORN)

Sepsis Clinical Trial

— ACORN  

Official title:

Effect of Antibiotic Choice On ReNal Outcomes (ACORN)

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05094154
• Other study ID #: 210591
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Start date: November 10, 2021
• Est. completion date: October 21, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: December 2023
• Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Sepsis is one of the most common causes of acute illness and death in the United States. Early, empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics are a mainstay of sepsis treatment. Two classes of antibiotics with activity against Pseudomonas, anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins and anti-pseudomonal penicillins, are commonly used for acutely ill adults with sepsis in current practice. Recent observational studies, however, have raised concern that anti-pseudomonal penicillins may cause renal toxicity. Anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins, by comparison, may be associated with a risk of neurotoxicity. Rigorous, prospective data regarding the comparative effectiveness and toxicity of these two classes of medications among acutely ill patients are lacking. The investigator propose a randomized trial comparing the impact of anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins and anti-pseudomonal penicillins on renal outcomes of acutely ill patients.

Description:

Sepsis is a common condition associated with high mortality and morbidity. Antibiotics are an integral component of the management of patients with sepsis. Each hour delay in antibiotic administration in sepsis is associated with an increase in mortality. Clinical guidelines recommend early management bundles, including early broad-spectrum antibiotics, for patients with presumed sepsis in the emergency department and intensive care unit. Since the specific organism causing an infection is rarely known at clinical presentation, empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics are commonly prescribed. For patients at risk for resistant organisms, the most common regimens include vancomycin (to cover gram-positive organisms including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin or anti-pseudomonal penicillin (to cover gram-negative organisms including Pseudomonas).

Cephalosporins and penicillins are beta-lactam antibiotics that act by inhibiting the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer of bacterial cell walls. They are commonly used for a variety of infections including empiric broad spectrum coverage for sepsis and suspected nosocomial infections. Several cephalosporins and penicillins have anti-pseudomonal activity, including cefepime, a fourth-generation cephalosporin, ceftazidime, a third-generation cephalosporin, and piperacillin-tazobactam, an extended-spectrum penicillin with beta-lactamase inhibitor. Anti-pseudomonal penicillins are the preferred agents for empiric broad spectrum coverage at many centers, and piperacillin-tazobactam, specifically, has the added benefit of treating anaerobic organisms.

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a common complication of ICU admission. AKI is associated with a six to eight fold increase in mortality in ICU populations is therefore a common target of critical care trials. Sepsis is the most common cause of AKI and accounts for 40-50% of AKI in the intensive care unit (ICU). As the primary treatment for the underlying cause of sepsis, antibiotics are a critical treatment for acutely ill patients, but antibiotics may cause renal injury, and renally-cleared antibiotics may reach supratherapeutic levels in the setting of AKI. Vancomycin has long been associated with AKI. Recently, a number of retrospective observational analyses have examined a potential association between the concurrent administration of vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam and the development of AKI, compared with vancomycin alone. These data, however, are likely to be confounded by indication bias and studies evaluating whether piperacillin-tazobactam causes more AKI than other anti-pseudomonal antibiotics have been inconclusive.

Based on this preliminary, observational data, however, some institutions have elected to change their preferred broad spectrum antibiotic regimens from one including an anti-pseudomonal penicillin to one including an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin. However, others have argued against this approach given the lack of randomized trials comparing the relative efficacy and safety of the two agents as well as observational data suggesting that cephalosporins may be associated with neuro-toxicity.

Tens of thousands of patients each year receive either anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins and penicillins, but no randomized trials have ever compared their relative effectiveness or safety. Each class of medications has been hypothesized to have toxicities that may be relevant for acutely ill patients. Because the relationship between antibiotic choice (anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins or anti-pseudomonal penicillins) and clinically relevant outcomes, such as AKI, are unknown, clinical trial data is urgently needed. Rigorous high-quality evidence that anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins, compared to anti-pseudomonal penicillins, decreases, increases or has no impact on the risk of AKI would have the potential to change the care received by thousands of acutely ill adults each year.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 2634
• Est. completion date: October 21, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: October 21, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age = 18 years old

• Located in a participating emergency department or medical intensive care unit

• Less than 12 hours from presentation to study hospital

• Treating clinician initiating an order for an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin or anti-pseudomonal penicillin

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known receipt of > 1 dose of an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin or anti-pseudomonal penicillin during the last 7 days

• Current documented allergy to cephalosporins or penicillin

• Known to be a prisoner

• Treating clinicians feel that either an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin or anti-pseudomonal penicillin is required or contraindicated for the optimal treatment of the patient, including for more directed antibiotic therapy against known prior resistant infections or suspected sepsis with an associated central nervous system infection

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• AKI
• Neurotoxicity
• Neurotoxicity Syndromes
• Sepsis

Intervention

Drug:
• anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin
Providers will be prompted to order an anti-pseudomonal cephalosporin, such as cefepime with a dose range of 500 mg, 1,000 mg, or 2,000 mg, and frequency every 6, 8, 12, or 24 hours based on provider discretion.
• anti-pseudomonal penicillin
Providers will be prompted to order anti-pseudomonal penicillin, such as piperacillin-tazobactam with a dose range of 3.375 g or 4.5 g and frequency every 6, 8, or 12 hours based on provider discretion.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Vanderbilt University Medical Center	Nashville	Tennessee

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (24)

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Downes KJ, Cowden C, Laskin BL, Huang YS, Gong W, Bryan M, Fisher BT, Goldstein SL, Zaoutis TE. Association of Acute Kidney Injury With Concomitant Vancomycin and Piperacillin/Tazobactam Treatment Among Hospitalized Children. JAMA Pediatr. 2017 Dec 4;171(12):e173219. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.3219. Epub 2017 Dec 4. — View Citation

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Hammond DA, Smith MN, Li C, Hayes SM, Lusardi K, Bookstaver PB. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Acute Kidney Injury Associated with Concomitant Vancomycin and Piperacillin/tazobactam. Clin Infect Dis. 2017 Mar 1;64(5):666-674. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciw811. Epub 2016 Dec 10. — View Citation

Hammond DA, Smith MN, Painter JT, Meena NK, Lusardi K. Comparative Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Vancomycin with Concomitant Piperacillin-Tazobactam or Cefepime: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Pharmacotherapy. 2016 May;36(5):463-71. doi: 10.1002/phar.1738. Epub 2016 Apr 1. — View Citation

Hoste EA, Bagshaw SM, Bellomo R, Cely CM, Colman R, Cruz DN, Edipidis K, Forni LG, Gomersall CD, Govil D, Honore PM, Joannes-Boyau O, Joannidis M, Korhonen AM, Lavrentieva A, Mehta RL, Palevsky P, Roessler E, Ronco C, Uchino S, Vazquez JA, Vidal Andrade E, Webb S, Kellum JA. Epidemiology of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients: the multinational AKI-EPI study. Intensive Care Med. 2015 Aug;41(8):1411-23. doi: 10.1007/s00134-015-3934-7. Epub 2015 Jul 11. — View Citation

Kalligeros M, Karageorgos SA, Shehadeh F, Zacharioudakis IM, Mylonakis E. The association of acute kidney injury with the concomitant use of vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2019 Sep 9;63(12):e01572-19. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01572-19. Epub 2019 Oct 7. — View Citation

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Liu VX, Fielding-Singh V, Greene JD, Baker JM, Iwashyna TJ, Bhattacharya J, Escobar GJ. The Timing of Early Antibiotics and Hospital Mortality in Sepsis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Oct 1;196(7):856-863. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201609-1848OC. — View Citation

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Molina KC, Barletta JF, Hall ST, Yazdani C, Huang V. The Risk of Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Concomitant Vancomycin With Piperacillin-Tazobactam or Cefepime. J Intensive Care Med. 2020 Dec;35(12):1434-1438. doi: 10.1177/0885066619828290. Epub 2019 Feb 10. — View Citation

O'Callaghan K, Hay K, Lavana J, McNamara JF. Acute kidney injury with combination vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam therapy in the ICU: A retrospective cohort study. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020 Jul;56(1):106010. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.106010. Epub 2020 May 12. — View Citation

Rhodes A, Evans LE, Alhazzani W, Levy MM, Antonelli M, Ferrer R, Kumar A, Sevransky JE, Sprung CL, Nunnally ME, Rochwerg B, Rubenfeld GD, Angus DC, Annane D, Beale RJ, Bellinghan GJ, Bernard GR, Chiche JD, Coopersmith C, De Backer DP, French CJ, Fujishima S, Gerlach H, Hidalgo JL, Hollenberg SM, Jones AE, Karnad DR, Kleinpell RM, Koh Y, Lisboa TC, Machado FR, Marini JJ, Marshall JC, Mazuski JE, McIntyre LA, McLean AS, Mehta S, Moreno RP, Myburgh J, Navalesi P, Nishida O, Osborn TM, Perner A, Plunkett CM, Ranieri M, Schorr CA, Seckel MA, Seymour CW, Shieh L, Shukri KA, Simpson SQ, Singer M, Thompson BT, Townsend SR, Van der Poll T, Vincent JL, Wiersinga WJ, Zimmerman JL, Dellinger RP. Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock: 2016. Intensive Care Med. 2017 Mar;43(3):304-377. doi: 10.1007/s00134-017-4683-6. Epub 2017 Jan 18. — View Citation

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Uchino S, Kellum JA, Bellomo R, Doig GS, Morimatsu H, Morgera S, Schetz M, Tan I, Bouman C, Macedo E, Gibney N, Tolwani A, Ronco C; Beginning and Ending Supportive Therapy for the Kidney (BEST Kidney) Investigators. Acute renal failure in critically ill patients: a multinational, multicenter study. JAMA. 2005 Aug 17;294(7):813-8. doi: 10.1001/jama.294.7.813. — View Citation

* Note: There are 24 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Post-Emergency Department Disposition	Patient disposition (ex. floor unit or intensive care unit) at day 14 post-enrollment from the emergency department.	14 days post-enrollment
Primary	Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) Ordinal Scale	Acute Kidney Injury Score between randomization and day 14. The acute kidney injury score is an ordinal outcome containing the stages of AKI as defined by Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) creatinine criteria, new renal replacement therapy (RRT), and death: 0 = No AKI; = Stage 1 AKI (Creatinine increase by 1.5-1.9 times baseline OR increase by >= 0.3 mg/dL); = Stage 2 AKI (Creatinine increase by 2.0-2.9 times baseline); = Stage 3 AKI (Creatinine increase by >= 3.0 times baseline OR increase to >= 4.0 mg/dL OR New RRT); = Death	14 days post-enrollment
Secondary	Major Adverse Kidney Events Within 14 Days (MAKE14)	Composite outcome of death within 14 days, new renal replacement therapy within 14 days, or stage 2 or higher AKI at day 14	14 days post-enrollment
Secondary	Delirium and Coma-Free Days to Day 14	The number of days alive and free of coma and delirium in the 14 days after enrollment	14 days post-enrollment