A Phase 3 interventional study of Melatonin and Isotonic sodium chloride solution in Emergence Delirium, sponsored by Arash Afshari. Recruiting at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 6 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-18.
Sponsored by Arash Afshari · Phase 3, Interventional, and Prevention
Postoperative agitation and emergence delirium describe a spectrum of symptoms of early postoperative negative behavior, in which the child experiences a variety of behavioral disturbances including crying, thrashing, and disorientation during early awakening from anaesthesia. The symptoms are common with a reported incidence of approximately 25%. Some clinical trials have studied the effect of prophylactic oral melatonin for reducing the risk of emergence agitation in children, some finding a considerable dose-response effect. Melatonin has a low bio-availability of approximately 15 %. The safety of exogenous melatonin for pediatric patients has been studied with no apparent serious adverse effects, even at repeated short-term use of high doses of intravenous melatonin. The aim of this clinical trial is to investigate the prophylactic effects and safety of intravenous melatonin administered intraoperatively for prevention of postopreative agitation and emergence delirium in children after an elective surgical procedure. The study is designed as a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
763 studies on the registry are indexed under Emergence Delirium; 241 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 676 is above the median of 120 across 475 interventional studies indexed under Emergence Delirium.
Browse Emergence Delirium studies →This is the only study on the registry with Arash Afshari as lead sponsor.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants receive melatonin solution for injection 1 mg/mL in a dosage of 0.15 mg/kg body weight as a single intravenous injection approximately 30 minutes before end of surgical procedure.
Drug: Melatonin
Participants receive isotonic sodium chloride (9mg/mL) intravenously once approximately 30 minutes before end of surgical procedure in a volume equivalent to the melatonin group for the same weight.
Drug: Isotonic sodium chloride solution
Melatonin for injection 1 mg/mL
Sodium chloride 0.9 % for injection
Also known as: Normal saline
Incidence of emergence agitation
Participants will be assessed on Watcha scale repeatedly ever 15 min during their stay at the Post-Anesthetic Care Unit. The variable is dichotomous: any score \>2= "Yes" and no score \<=2 = "No"
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Opioid consumption
The total amount of opioids administered for postoperative pain in the PACU will be evaluated as units of morphine equivalents per kg. No more than 35 % of the popu-lation is expected to receive postoperative opioids in a range of approximately 10-100 µg/kg.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Non-serious Adverse Events (AE)
Any untoward medical occurrence not considered serious.
Time frame: From enrolment to the trial until 24-hour follow-up.
Serious Adverse Events (SAE)
We will use the International Conference on Harmonization of technical require-ments for registration of pharmaceuticals for human use-Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) definition of a serious adverse event, which is any untoward medical occurrence that resulted in death, was life-threatening, re-quired hospitalization or prolonging of existing hospitalization and resulted in persistent or significant disability or jeopardized the participant.
Time frame: SAEs will be assessed from enrolment until 30 days after intervention.
Postoperative pain
The incidence of postoperative pain will be assessed in each group according to the FLACC scale, assessed every 15 minutes in PACU. Postoperative pain is defined as any FLACC score \>3.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV)
The incidence of PONV will be assessed dichotomously every 15 minutes in PACU. Outcome assessors will observe for vomiting. Nausea can be considered present if the participant refuses to eat and other causes are ruled out. There is no adequate PONV assessment tool available. PONV will be considered present if any assess-ment during PACU stay is "Yes".
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Time to administration of opioid
Time from end of anesthesia to the time point at which the first dose of opioid is administered in PACU. Not all participants (expectedly up to approximately 35%) will receive opioids in PACU.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Need for rescue medication
Dichotomous assessment of any administration in PACU of rescue medication specifically targeting EA according to treatment algorithm i.e., clonidine or propofol.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Time to awakening in PACU
Time from end of anesthesia to the first time point at which the participant is awake. If the participant is not awake two hours after arrival in PACU, a wake-up at-tempt will be carried out.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Time to postoperative oral intake
Time from end of anesthesia to the first time point at which the participant eats/drinks. All participants are assumed to eat/drink during their PACU stay.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Time for discharge readiness
Time from end of anesthesia (defined as above) to the time point at which partici-pant fulfills local discharge criteria. Discharge criteria will be evaluated by the re-sponsible physician prior to final discharge from PACU either to the participant's ward or to their home.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Emergence delirium
The incidence of emergence delirium will be evaluated according to the PAED score assessed every 15 minutes during PACU stay. The end-point is defined dichotomously as any score ≥10. Due to feasibility concerns, this outcome will solely be evaluated in a sub-population of approximately 50% of the trial population (200 participants), specifically only thos enrolled at the Juliane Marie Center Site.
Time frame: Up to approximately 4 hours corresponding to stay in Post-Anesthetic Care Unit (PACU).
Readmissions within 30 days
Assessed dichotomously counting day 0 as the day of discharge from hospital after the procedure. For the small group (expectedly \<5 %) who will have had any read-missions within 30 days, the number of readmissions will be described.
Time frame: From day of discharge + 30 days.
Density *Spectral Array (DSA) patterns
Expert evaluation of DSA natural sleep patterns from EEG monitoring on a subpopulation.
Time frame: From anesthesia induction and the duration of the participant's sleep (approximately 4 hours maximum)
Plan to share: Yes
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap
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