CClinicalTrials.gg
WithdrawnNCT03168178Updated Oct 23, 2018

Intrapartum Fever: Antibiotics Versus no Treatment

A Phase 4 interventional study of Standard Antibiotic Treatment and No Antibiotic Treatment in Chorioamnionitis, Intrapartum Fever and Intra-amniotic Infection, sponsored by University of Utah. Withdrawn at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-10-23.

Sponsored by University of Utah · Phase 4, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Why this study was withdrawn
Participant enrollment was much more challenging than anticipated.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether antibiotics can be safely avoided in women who develop a fever during labor. Because investigators have no accurate tests to determine whether women who develop fever during labor have intra-amniotic infection, antibiotics are often used to prevent spread of infection to the fetus.

Read the detailed description

A fever > 100.4 F during labor (intrapartum fever) complicates up to 14% of term deliveries, and is commonly considered a sign of intrauterine infection. Despite studies showing that most causes of maternal intrapartum fever are non-infectious, intrapartum fever often prompts the diagnosis of chorioamnionitis/intrauterine infection, or what is now known as 'triple I' (intra-amniotic infection or inflammation). Diagnosis of triple I is primarily based on clinical findings such as maternal fever, maternal leukocytosis, uterine tenderness, foul-smelling or purulent amniotic fluid, and fetal tachycardia. A minimum of two of these criteria for diagnosis, although this distinction is somewhat artificial as fetal tachycardia is highly associated with maternal fever. The poor performance of clinical signs and lack of effective biomarkers to identify neonatal infection results in over treatment of both mothers and infants.

Avoiding antibiotic use in mothers and infants is desirable in order to avoid unnecessary separation after birth, decreasing cost and interventions in newborns, and to avoid altering the infant's microbiome (the bacteria newborns carry on their skin, mucosal membranes, and in their gut at the time of birth). Infants with altered microbiomes may be at risk for skin, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal disorders. The investigators in this trial are randomizing women with fever during labor who are felt to be a low risk for true infection to antibiotic treatment compared to no antibiotics in order to determine if antibiotics can be safely avoided for these women and their infants.

02

Conditions studied

  • Chorioamnionitis
  • Intrapartum Fever
  • Intra-amniotic Infection
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Pregnant women between 34-42 weeks gestation
  • Singleton fetus
  • Admitted for labor management \& develops a fever of 100.4 F or greater

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known fetal anomaly
  • Other indication for intrapartum antibiotics (endocarditis prophylaxis, other known maternal infection)
04

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Standard Antibiotic Treatment

    Standard antibiotic treatment provided to patient. Placenta submitted for pathologic exam. Maternal and neonatal outcomes collected.

    Drug: Standard Antibiotic Treatment

  • Experimental
    No Antibiotic Treatment

    No Antibiotic treatment given. Placenta submitted for pathologic exam. Maternal and neonatal outcomes collected.

    Other: No Antibiotic Treatment

Interventions

  • DrugStandard Antibiotic Treatment

    Participants randomized to this intervention will receive standard antibiotic treatment. The placenta will be submitted for pathologic exam after delivery and investigators will collect maternal and neonatal outcomes

  • OtherNo Antibiotic Treatment

    Participant randomized to this arm of the study will not receive antibiotics. The placenta will be submitted for pathologic exam after delivery and investigators will collect maternal and neonatal outcomes

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Neonatal antibiotic treatment as recommended by the EONS (Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis) calculator.

    All newborns will have a screening assessment including physical exam and vital signs, and this data along with maternal and delivery data is entered into the Kaiser Permanente Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis (EONS) calculator. The EONS calculator estimates the risk of sepsis and recommends observation, additional evaluation, or empiric antibiotic treatment.

    Time frame: Within 2 hours of delivery

Secondary outcomes

  1. Positive blood culture

    For infants who have a blood culture obtained by recommendation of the EONS calculator, the presence of significant bacterial growth will be considered a positive culture.

    Time frame: Up to 4 days after birth

  2. Need for NICU admission

    Admission of the infant to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit

    Time frame: Up to 4 weeks after birth

  3. Newborn length of stay

    Days hospitalized after birth

    Time frame: Up to 4 weeks after birth

  4. Maternal endometritis

    The diagnosis of endometritis made by the patient's OB provider requiring treatment with antibiotics.

    Time frame: Up to 4 weeks after birth

  5. Maternal length of stay

    Days hospitalized after delivery

    Time frame: Up to 4 weeks after birth

  6. Patient satisfaction

    Satisfaction with maternal and newborn care using a standardized survey administered by phone at 6-8 weeks after delivery

    Time frame: 6-8 weeks after delivery

  7. Cost

    The hospital charges for mother and infant

    Time frame: Up to 4 weeks after birth

06

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Utah, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
    Salt Lake City, Utah 84132, United States
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Smulian JC, Bhandari V, Vintzileos AM, Shen-Schwarz S, Quashie C, Lai-Lin YL, Ananth CV. Intrapartum fever at term: serum and histologic markers of inflammation. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003 Jan;188(1):269-74. doi: 10.1067/mob.2003.11. PubMed 12548228 ↗
  • Smulian JC, Shen-Schwarz S, Vintzileos AM, Lake MF, Ananth CV. Clinical chorioamnionitis and histologic placental inflammation. Obstet Gynecol. 1999 Dec;94(6):1000-5. doi: 10.1016/s0029-7844(99)00416-0. PubMed 10576190 ↗
  • Roberts DJ, Celi AC, Riley LE, Onderdonk AB, Boyd TK, Johnson LC, Lieberman E. Acute histologic chorioamnionitis at term: nearly always noninfectious. PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e31819. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031819. Epub 2012 Mar 7. PubMed 22412842 ↗
  • Taylor JA, Opel DJ. Choriophobia: a 1-act play. Pediatrics. 2012 Aug;130(2):342-6. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-0106. Epub 2012 Jul 9. PubMed 22778303 ↗
  • Escobar GJ, Puopolo KM, Wi S, Turk BJ, Kuzniewicz MW, Walsh EM, Newman TB, Zupancic J, Lieberman E, Draper D. Stratification of risk of early-onset sepsis in newborns >/= 34 weeks' gestation. Pediatrics. 2014 Jan;133(1):30-6. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-1689. Epub 2013 Dec 23. PubMed 24366992 ↗
  • Cuna A, Hakima L, Tseng YA, Fornier B, Islam S, Quintos-Alagheband ML, Khullar P, Weinberger B, Hanna N. Clinical dilemma of positive histologic chorioamnionitis in term newborn. Front Pediatr. 2014 Apr 4;2:27. doi: 10.3389/fped.2014.00027. eCollection 2014. PubMed 24772410 ↗
  • Evers AC, Nijhuis L, Koster MP, Bont LJ, Visser GH. Intrapartum fever at term: diagnostic markers to individualize the risk of fetal infection: a review. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2012 Mar;67(3):187-200. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0b013e31824bb5f1. PubMed 22901952 ↗
  • Buhimschi IA, Christner R, Buhimschi CS. Proteomic biomarker analysis of amniotic fluid for identification of intra-amniotic inflammation. BJOG. 2005 Feb;112(2):173-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00340.x. PubMed 15663581 ↗
  • Stoll BJ, Hansen NI, Sanchez PJ, Faix RG, Poindexter BB, Van Meurs KP, Bizzarro MJ, Goldberg RN, Frantz ID 3rd, Hale EC, Shankaran S, Kennedy K, Carlo WA, Watterberg KL, Bell EF, Walsh MC, Schibler K, Laptook AR, Shane AL, Schrag SJ, Das A, Higgins RD; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Early onset neonatal sepsis: the burden of group B Streptococcal and E. coli disease continues. Pediatrics. 2011 May;127(5):817-26. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-2217. Epub 2011 Apr 25. Erratum In: Pediatrics. 2011 Aug;128(2):390. PubMed 21518717 ↗
  • Newman TB, Puopolo KM, Wi S, Draper D, Escobar GJ. Interpreting complete blood counts soon after birth in newborns at risk for sepsis. Pediatrics. 2010 Nov;126(5):903-9. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-0935. Epub 2010 Oct 25. PubMed 20974782 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03168178
Lead sponsor
University of Utah
Responsible party
Heather Campbell (Principal Investigator, University of Utah) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 30, 2017
Start date
Jun 8, 2017
Primary completion
Jul 26, 2018
Completion
Jul 26, 2018
Last update
Oct 23, 2018

Study contacts

Heather Campbell, MD
principal investigator · University of Utah

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Oct 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion