Clinical trial NCT04748120: Operative vs Non-Operative Management of Acute Appendicitis and Acute Cholecystitis in COVID-19 Positive Patients
Official title: Operative vs Non-Operative Management of Acute Appendicitis and Acute Cholecystitis in COVID-19 Positive Patients
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: TERMINATED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Covid19
Appendicitis
Cholecystitis, Acute
Cholecystitis; Gallstone
Cholecystitis
Lead sponsor: The Cleveland Clinic
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-02-10
Enrollment: 2
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: This will be a prospective, non-blinded, pilot randomized controlled trial comparing operative to non-operative management of acute appendicitis and acute cholecystitis in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection. This will be a two-arm trial with intervention 1: intervention 2 allocation ratio of 1:1.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study evaluates operative and non-operative management of acute appendicitis (infection or inflammation of the appendix) and acute cholecystitis (inflammation/infection of the gallbladder) in patients with active mild to moderate COVID-19 infection. The hypothesis is that COVID+ patients with uncomplicated acute appendicitis or acute cholecystitis amendable to a laparoscopic procedure can have safe operative outcomes compared to those managed non-operatively.

Detailed description: As the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disseminates across the United States, more routine preoperative testing is going to expose infected patients with no or mild pneumonia symptoms. Currently, little is known regarding the true consequences of general anesthesia in COVID-positive (COVID+) patients. Surgeons are going to face challenging decisions regarding whether or not to operate for non-elective cases requiring general anesthesia when non-operative treatment options exist. Patients with acute appendicitis are usually treated with an operation to remove the appendix, but they can also be initially treated with antibiotics and have an operation at a later date. Similarly, patients with acute cholecystitis are usually treated with an operation to remove the gallbladder, but they can be treated with antibiotics and a percutaneous cholecystostomy tube (a tube that going through the skin to drain the gallbladder) and have an operation at a later date. However, patients managed without a definitive operation may require more resource utilization, PPE consumption, interactions with hospital personnel, and could experience treatment failures that exacerbate their viral illness. This is a pilot study comparing the safety of operative versus non-operative management of COVID+ patients with mild to moderate symptoms.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* COVID-19 confirmed positive by a microbiologic test.
* Mild COVID-19 - no or mild pneumonia
* EITHER

  1. Uncomplicated acute appendicitis without a fecalith OR
  2. Acute cholecystitis - by TG18/TG13 diagnostic criteria where definite diagnosis requires one item in A + one item in B + C A. Local signs of inflammation etc.

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  1. Murphy's sign
  2. RUQ mass/pain/tenderness B. Systemic signs of inflammation etc.

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  1. Fever
  2. elevated CRP
  3. elevated WBC count C. Imaging findings characteristic of acute cholecystitis

Exclusion Criteria:

* Active pregnancy
* COVID-19 severe disease that would be a contraindication to operative intervention at the discretion of the attending surgeon supported by the following, none of which are individually required or are a strict exclusion criterion as some of these could be attributed or exacerbated by the underlying surgical problem:

  1. Persistent dyspnea
  2. Persistent respiratory frequency \>30/min
  3. Persistent blood oxygen saturation \<93%
  4. Partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen ratio \<300
  5. Lung infiltrates \>50%
* COVID-19 critical disease - respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction
* The surgeon expects increased operative complexity - high risk of conversion to open or prolonged procedure
* Unable or unwilling to consent or fulfill study procedures - need to complete 90 day follow-up by telephone

Primary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Pulmonary Complications
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Post-intervention ICU Admission
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
measure: Mortality (All Cause)
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
measure: Complications as Measured by the Clavien-Dindo Classification
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
measure: Median Length of Hospital Stay
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
measure: Number of Emergency Room Visits/Readmission
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
Other outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Treatment Failure for Non-operative Management
timeFrame: Up to 90 days
Locations:
city: Cleveland
country: United States
facility: Cleveland Clinic Foundation
state: Ohio
Study officials:
affiliation: Associate Professor of Surgery
name: Clayton C Petro, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020 Apr 7;323(13):1239-1242. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.2648. No abstract available.
citation: Lei S, Jiang F, Su W, Chen C, Chen J, Mei W, Zhan LY, Jia Y, Zhang L, Liu D, Xia ZY, Xia Z. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19 infection. EClinicalMedicine. 2020 Apr 5;21:100331. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100331. eCollection 2020 Apr.
citation: Aminian A, Safari S, Razeghian-Jahromi A, Ghorbani M, Delaney CP. COVID-19 Outbreak and Surgical Practice: Unexpected Fatality in Perioperative Period. Ann Surg. 2020 Jul;272(1):e27-e29. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000003925.
citation: Podda M, Gerardi C, Cillara N, Fearnhead N, Gomes CA, Birindelli A, Mulliri A, Davies RJ, Di Saverio S. Antibiotic Treatment and Appendectomy for Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis in Adults and Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Ann Surg. 2019 Dec;270(6):1028-1040. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000003225.
citation: Gomi H, Solomkin JS, Schlossberg D, Okamoto K, Takada T, Strasberg SM, Ukai T, Endo I, Iwashita Y, Hibi T, Pitt HA, Matsunaga N, Takamori Y, Umezawa A, Asai K, Suzuki K, Han HS, Hwang TL, Mori Y, Yoon YS, Huang WS, Belli G, Dervenis C, Yokoe M, Kiriyama S, Itoi T, Jagannath P, Garden OJ, Miura F, de Santibanes E, Shikata S, Noguchi Y, Wada K, Honda G, Supe AN, Yoshida M, Mayumi T, Gouma DJ, Deziel DJ, Liau KH, Chen MF, Liu KH, Su CH, Chan ACW, Yoon DS, Choi IS, Jonas E, Chen XP, Fan ST, Ker CG, Gimenez ME, Kitano S, Inomata M, Mukai S, Higuchi R, Hirata K, Inui K, Sumiyama Y, Yamamoto M. Tokyo Guidelines 2018: antimicrobial therapy for acute cholangitis and cholecystitis. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci. 2018 Jan;25(1):3-16. doi: 10.1002/jhbp.518. Epub 2018 Jan 9.
citation: Davis CA, Landercasper J, Gundersen LH, Lambert PJ. Effective use of percutaneous cholecystostomy in high-risk surgical patients: techniques, tube management, and results. Arch Surg. 1999 Jul;134(7):727-31; discussion 731-2. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.134.7.727.
citation: Yokoe M, Hata J, Takada T, Strasberg SM, Asbun HJ, Wakabayashi G, Kozaka K, Endo I, Deziel DJ, Miura F, Okamoto K, Hwang TL, Huang WS, Ker CG, Chen MF, Han HS, Yoon YS, Choi IS, Yoon DS, Noguchi Y, Shikata S, Ukai T, Higuchi R, Gabata T, Mori Y, Iwashita Y, Hibi T, Jagannath P, Jonas E, Liau KH, Dervenis C, Gouma DJ, Cherqui D, Belli G, Garden OJ, Gimenez ME, de Santibanes E, Suzuki K, Umezawa A, Supe AN, Pitt HA, Singh H, Chan ACW, Lau WY, Teoh AYB, Honda G, Sugioka A, Asai K, Gomi H, Itoi T, Kiriyama S, Yoshida M, Mayumi T, Matsumura N, Tokumura H, Kitano S, Hirata K, Inui K, Sumiyama Y, Yamamoto M. Tokyo Guidelines 2018: diagnostic criteria and severity grading of acute cholecystitis (with videos). J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci. 2018 Jan;25(1):41-54. doi: 10.1002/jhbp.515. Epub 2018 Jan 9.