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CompletedNCT03402685ClearBirthUpdated Feb 14, 2023

Continuous Non-invasive Blood Pressure Measurement in C-section

An interventional study of ClearSight in Cesarean Delivery Affecting Newborn, Cesarean Delivery Affecting Fetus and Cesarean Section Complications, sponsored by Charite University, Berlin, Germany. Completed at 1 site in Germany. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-02-14.

Sponsored by Charite University, Berlin, Germany · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
48
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

The caesarean section is a frequently performed procedure in obstetrics and accounts for about 30% of all births in Germany. 55% to 68% of all caesarean sections are performed under spinal anesthesia. A possible side effect of spinal anesthesia is arterial hypotension with a prevalence of 70% to 80%. A placental hypoperfusion in the context of a reduced preload due to hypotension can reduce the fetal outcome. Early diagnosis and treatment of the hypotensive episode could reduce and at best prevent increased fetal morbidity.

Due to their invasiveness due to the necessity of puncturing a distal artery of the extremity and the insertion of a catheter, established continuous blood pressure measurement procedures have disadvantages such as potential circulatory disorders of the hand, infections, bleeding and thrombosis and are therefore often not indicated in the context of an elective sectio. Non-invasive procedures such as NIBP, however, are discontinuous and may make a timely diagnosis of hypotension more difficult and delay therapy. The ClearSightTM system, which allows a continuous non-invasive blood pressure measurement, has been used in hip and knee joint surgery. There, a good correlation with invasive blood pressure measurements was found, particularly with regard to systolic and mean arterial pressure. An application in obstetrics has not yet been investigated. Due to the continuous measurement provided by ClearSightTM, continuous monitoring of blood pressure appears to be ensured, so that a faster reaction to previously undetected fluctuations in blood pressure can be expected compared to interval measurement.

Read the detailed description

The determination of arterial blood pressure is a basic monitoring measure during spinal anaesthesia in obstetrics for the operative delivery of the child via the caesarean section. Adequate arterial blood pressure is essential to ensure adequate placental perfusion, sufficient cerebral perfusion pressure of the mother and is the basis for any hemodynamic optimization to significantly improve patient outcome.

Up to now, two standard methods for determining blood pressure have always been the oscillating non-invasive, intermittent blood pressure measurement (NIBP) and the invasive continuous blood pressure measurement (IBP). The NIBP derives blood pressure values using upper arm cuffs at defined intervals. As a result, no continuous measurement is possible and nerve damage and pain are risks of this method. The indication for the establishment of IBP is often not given due to potential side effects such as aneurysm formation, infections, thrombosis and circulatory impairment of the hand. The application of a novel non-invasive, patch-clamp-based continuous blood pressure measurement system (ClearSightTM, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Irvine, California, USA) promises to combine the advantages of NIBP, namely non-invasiveness and IBP, the continuous pressure measurement. So far, there have been no randomized, controlled trials for application. Spinal anesthesia is a widespread anaesthetic procedure for performing Caesarean sections. Within the clinical standard, an intermittent blood pressure measurement is used at intervals of 2 to 5 minutes. Continuous invasive blood pressure measurement is not a standard procedure.

Standard procedure: The standard procedure corresponds to the SOPs of the Clinic for Anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine. After admission to the operating room, the patient is monitored by means of a 3-channel ECG and pulse oximetry. The NIBP measurement by means of an upper arm cuff is carried out intermittently with a measurement interval of 2 minutes according to SOP (standard operating procedure) and is continued until the umbilical cord of the fetus is removed. Subsequently, a peripheral venous access is applied and 500 ml of full electrolyte solution are infused. Subsequently, the spinal anesthesia is applied in a seated position. Size-adapted 1.6 - 2.0 ml hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5%, 0.1 mg morphine and 5 µg sufentanil are used. According to SOP, local skin infiltration with lidocaine 1% is carried out. After application of the spinal anaesthesia, the patient is positioned in a supine position with the operating table tilted 15° to the left. If the systolic blood pressure drops below 100 mmHg or by more than 20 % of the initial value, 100 µg phenylephrine is applied. After a sufficient entry into action (target height according to SOP TH4) the Caesarean section is performed. After birth, APGAR values are recorded after 1,5 and 10 minutes, and umbilical cord blood gas analysis is performed.

Study procedure: Randomisation of patients based on a randomisation list drawn up by an independent statistician in either NIBP or ClearSight group. In both groups, the above-mentioned standard procedure according to SOP and also the non-invasive continuous blood pressure measurement to improve blood pressure monitoring with the ClearSight? system, so that all patients are monitored by both monitoring systems. In the NIBP Group, anaesthetists are blinded against the ClearSight measurement. In the ClearSight group, anaesthetists are blinded against the NIBP measurement. Blinding is achieved by completely covering the measured values of the other method. (please describe in detail). The installation of the measuring sensors does not involve any risks for patients.

02

Conditions studied

  • Cesarean Delivery Affecting Newborn
  • Cesarean Delivery Affecting Fetus
  • Cesarean Section Complications
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Charite University, Berlin, Germany is the lead sponsor of 854 studies on the registry; 127 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Female
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

  • Female patients who receive a caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia
  • Presence of the written declaration of consent
  • Age >/= 18 years
  • No participation in another prospective intervention study during participation in this study

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Symptomatic heart failure NYHA >/= III (New York Heart Association)
  • Symptomatic valve disease (stenosis/insufficiency) >/= II°
  • Liver failure CHILD >/= B
  • Acute or chronic renal impairment requiring dialysis
  • (pre-)clampsia
  • HELLP syndrome
  • current or previous alcohol or drug abuse
  • Psychiatric diseases
  • sepsis
  • side difference of the blood pressure measured during screening for vascular pathologies with blood pressure >12mmHg by means of NIBP
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
48 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • No intervention
    NIBP-Group

    NIBP will be shown, ClearSight will be covered.

  • Experimental
    ClearSight-Group

    ClearSight will be shown, NIBP will be covered.

    Device: ClearSight

Interventions

  • DeviceClearSight

    Patients in the intervention group receive management of volume and vasopressor settings according to the non-invasive ClearSight system.

    Also known as: non-invasive continous blood pressure measurement

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Time

    Mean difference in time to detection and treatment of hypotension between continuous non-invasive (ClearSight) blood pressure measurement and NIBP, determined by the area under the curve (AUC) of latency between hypotension and therapy.

    Time frame: duration of surgery (an average of 2 hours)

Secondary outcomes

  1. APGAR-1

    APGAR value 1 minute after delivery

    Time frame: after delivery (an average of 1 minute)

  2. APGAR-5

    APGAR value 5 minutes after delivery

    Time frame: after delivery (an average of 5 minutes)

  3. APGAR-10

    APGAR value 10 minutes after delivery

    Time frame: after delivery (an average of 10 minutes)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
    Berlin, 10117, Germany
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from May 2018 to primary completion in Dec 2019, 19 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 11, 2018
First posted
Jan 18, 2018
StartActual
May 17, 2018
Primary completionActual
Dec 31, 2019
CompletionActual
Jun 1, 2020
Last update
Feb 14, 2023
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 14, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03402685
Responsible party
Sascha Treskatsch (Deputy head of department Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine, CCM and CVK; MD; PhD, Charite University, Berlin, Germany) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 18, 2018
Start date
May 17, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2019
Completion
Jun 1, 2020
Last update
Feb 14, 2023

Study contacts

Sascha Treskatsch, MD, Prof
principal investigator · Charite

Oversight

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

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