Sunday 29 May 2011

MALARIA: Africa trial questions hypovolaemic shock treatment for children

BBC: 27 May 2011


The trial found that children who were given fluid more slowly recovered better
A trial in East Africa has raised questions about an internationally accepted emergency treatment for children suffering from shock.
It involves injecting a large volume of fluid rapidly, through a drip, and is used widely in Europe and the US.
But researchers say it could be linked to additional deaths of children with severe infections like malaria.
They called for a rethink of UN World Health Organization guidelines that recommend the "fluid bolus" treatment.
'Not safe'
The Fluid Expansion as Supportive Therapy (Feast) trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, studied 3,170 children in hospitals across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13580838

The role of fluid resuscitation in the treatment of children with shock and life-threatening infections who live in resource-limited settings is not established.
METHODS
We randomly assigned children with severe febrile illness and impaired perfusion to receive boluses of 20 to 40 ml of 5% albumin solution (albumin-bolus group) or 0.9% saline solution (saline-bolus group) per kilogram of body weight or no bolus (control group) at the time of admission to a hospital in Uganda, Kenya, or Tanzania (stratum A); children with severe hypotension were randomly assigned to one of the bolus groups only (stratum B). Children with malnutrition or gastroenteritis were excluded. The primary end point was 48-hour mortality; secondary end points included pulmonary edema, increased intracranial pressure, and mortality or neurologic sequelae at 4 weeks.
RESULTS
The data and safety monitoring committee recommended halting recruitment after 3141 of the projected 3600 children in stratum A were enrolled. Malaria status (57% overall) and clinical severity were similar across groups. The 48-hour mortality was 10.6% (111 of 1050 children), 10.5% (110 of 1047 children), and 7.3% (76 of 1044 children) in the albumin-bolus, saline-bolus, and control groups, respectively (relative risk for saline bolus vs. control, 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.90; P=0.01; relative risk for albumin bolus vs. saline bolus, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.29; P=0.96; and relative risk for any bolus vs. control, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.86; P=0.003). The 4-week mortality was 12.2%, 12.0%, and 8.7% in the three groups, respectively (P=0.004 for the comparison of bolus with control). Neurologic sequelae occurred in 2.2%, 1.9%, and 2.0% of the children in the respective groups (P=0.92), and pulmonary edema or increased intracranial pressure occurred in 2.6%, 2.2%, and 1.7% (P=0.17), respectively. In stratum B, 69% of the children (9 of 13) in the albumin-bolus group and 56% (9 of 16) in the saline-bolus group died (P=0.45). The results were consistent across centers and across subgroups according to the severity of shock and status with respect to malaria, coma, sepsis, acidosis, and severe anemia.
CONCLUSIONS
Fluid boluses significantly increased 48-hour mortality in critically ill children with impaired perfusion in these resource-limited settings in Africa. (Funded by the Medical Research Council, United Kingdom; FEAST Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN69856593.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13580838

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1101549?query=featured_home&




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