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WithdrawnNCT03399838PedINDEXUpdated Sep 30, 2022

Comparing in Dexmedetomidine With po/pr Midazolam for Procedural Sedation in the Pediatric Emergency Department

A Phase 4 interventional study of Dexmedetomidine and Midazolam in Procedural Anxiety and Emergencies, sponsored by Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern. Withdrawn. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 6 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-09-30.

Primary conditionnone(registry's first term: Emergencies)No conditionIs this wrong?Emergencies describes something many studies share rather than a condition a study is about. The study names no condition we can place it under, so it is not compared with other studies by condition.

Sponsored by Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was withdrawn
Sponsor left the hospital
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
6 Months to 6 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study aims to compare efficacy of Procedural Sedation with Dexmedetomidine as compared to Midazolam in the pediatric Emergency Department.

210 children aged 6 months to 6 years will be included and randomly assigned to receiving oral or rectal midazolam (standard of care) or intranasal dexmedetomidine for procedures at the emergency department where mainly a sedation and no analgesia is sought. The procedure will be videotaped and analysis is blinded to the medication.

Read the detailed description

Pediatric sedation and analgesia is a major aspect in emergency procedures and treatments: anxiety and stress in children need to be purposefully addressed in order to perform procedures where a child needs to lie still, and to prevent anxiety in the future. An important factor to reduce stress and anxiety is the use of medication without the need of an intravenous access. To date, options for such a sedation are very limited. One of the most common medications in use is midazolam applied orally or rectally, though there are several concerns with this drug.

Pediatric developmental stage often does not allow to rationally explain procedures (e.g., wound management, emergency radiologic imaging, lumbar punctures, posing a difficult iv line), thus provoking further anxiety and non-compliance.

The medication in question (dexmedetomidine, DEX) has been proven to be a safe and reliable sedative in different settings even though its use is off-label in pediatrics. Data on its use in the pediatric emergency department (PED) are sparse, but it could be of help in a variety of situations especially in this setting.

The overall objective of this study is to determine whether intranasal (IN) DEX has better efficacy profile for PSA in the PED compared to rectal (PR)/ oral (PO) midazolam in children aged 6 months to 6 years.

Validated scores are used to describe efficacy in detail, including Procedural Sedation State Scale, Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale Short Form, University of Michigan Sedation State. Surveys to the parents and the health care professionals are used to further describe efficacy.

Procedural Sedation State Scale will be the primary outcome. Based on clinical experience we expect around 70% of patients with midazolam sedation to score 2 or 3 using the PSSS (target sedation state). Clinically relevant superiority is defined as 15% more patients with target sedation state.

Study design: single-center, prospective, randomised, active control, rater-blinded trial: procedures will be videotaped and analysed by research assistants blinded to the study medication.

Number of patients: 210 with assessable primary outcome. Duration of recruitment is expected to be 24 months

02

Conditions studied

  • Procedural Anxiety
  • Emergencies

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Keywords

  • Procedural Sedation and Analgesia
  • Pediatric Emergency Department
  • intranasal
  • dexmedetomidine
  • midazolam
  • anxiety relief
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern is the lead sponsor of 741 studies on the registry; 180 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
6 Months to 6 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Children aged between 6 months and 6 years presenting at the pediatric emergency department
  • Indication for midazolam as sedation
  • Signed

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • for midazolam
  • Contraindication for dexmedetomidine
  • Contraindication for moderate sedation in general
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

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You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Dexmedetomidine

    Application of single dose of 4mcg/kg dexmedetomidine intranasally for pediatric procedural sedation at the emergency department

    Drug: Dexmedetomidine

  • Active comparator
    Midazolam

    0.5mg po/pr midazolam for pediatric sedation at the emergency department

    Drug: Midazolam

Interventions

  • IN Dex for pediatric procedural sedation at the emergency department

  • po/pr midazolam as active comparator to dexmedetomidine for pediatric procedural sedation at the pediatric emergency department

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Efficacy of procedural sedation, using the 6 point Procedural Sedation State Scale PSSS

    Primary outcome is target sedation state measured with the PSSS (Pediatric Sedation State Scale) at initiation of the procedure, assessed via videotape by two independent research assistants. This scale has been developed and validated to reflect behaviours associated with adequate and inadequate sedation, in addition to adverse events associated with excessive sedation. States are predefined and related to the numbers 0 to 5. State 2 and 3 are defined as target sedation state. Primary outcome are number of patients in target sedation state.

    Time frame: Initiation of procedure, around 30 minutes after medication was given

Secondary outcomes

  1. Anxiety relief, measured with a validated 18-points-observer score

    mYPAS-SF (Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale Short Form) is a validated anxiety scale in pediatric sedation. Scores range from 4 to 18, with 18 being the highest level of anxiety. Lower scores are a better outcome.

    Time frame: Baseline, positioning for procedure, initiation of procedure, end of procedure

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 30, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03399838
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 16, 2018
Start date
Aug 2023 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2024 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 31, 2024 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 30, 2022

Study contacts

Julia Hoeffe, MD
principal investigator · Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Sep 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drug tested here: Dexmedetomidine

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