All Clinical Trials in Canada

Pain management is a major concern in oncologic breast surgery and reconstruction. Significant risks for acute and chronic pain after surgery might be reduced through improved pain control pre-operatively. Addition of regional anesthesia to a multimodal peri-operative pain management protocol offers a promising solution for improved recovery. For patients undergoing mastectomy with immediate alloplastic breast reconstruction, this RCT compares TPVB+Pecs local anesthetic block with TPVB local anesthetic block and Pecs placebo normal saline block for their effect on acute pain, chronic pain, opioid consumption, opioid-related side effects, patient-reported quality of recovery after surgery, and length of stay. Read Less

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of bilateral, paravertebral blockade (intervention) against sham blocks (control) placed prior to sternotomy in improving quality of recovery following cardiac surgery. Primary outcome: The hypothesis is that bilateral single-shot PVB at the thoracic spinal segmental levels T3/4, compared with sham blocks, improve the Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) score at 24 hours following cardiac surgery by a minimally clinically important difference of 8.0 or greater. Secondary outcomes: The hypothesis is that the intervention will reduce pain scores, opioid requirements, and related side effects; improve respiratory mechanics; and facilitate a better first night's rest/sleep in the first 24-48 hours compared to sham blocks. Read Less

This project will use a mixed design and will be conducted at the West Parry Sound Health Centre. Based on similar studies there is an expected 10% drop-out rate so 20 participants per group will be invited to aim to have 15 finish. Total participants invited over the two-year study will be 40. The participants will be followed over a Complete 6-month Lifestyle medicine Intervention Program (CLIP) involving a collaboration between physicians, health coach, registered dietitians, and kinesiology. The CLIP will cover the 6 pillars of lifestyle medicine in 12-14 fundamentals of lifestyle medicine group classes. Read Less

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a relatively common disease that effects all age groups and carries significant morbidity and mortality. The initial treatment typically involves both short and long term medication, however when this is not enough to adequately control the disease, surgery is often required. The high morbidity and mortality rates are in part due to the increased rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) which have been shown to develop more frequently in IBD patients compared to the general population. Undergoing abdominal surgery has also been shown to independently increase rates of DVT and PE and since the majority of patients with IBD will undergo surgery at least once in their lifetime, the relative increased risk of developing a VTE is very high. The majority of DVT and PE events in the postoperative IBD population will occur after discharge from hospital and therefore carries significant morbidity and mortality risk in a unmonitored setting. Several studies have demonstrated the benefits and safety of twice daily dosing of oral extended VTE prophylaxis agents in orthopedic and cancer postoperative patients following discharge from hospital. There have been no randomized studies which have evaluated the use of extended postoperative VTE prophylaxis in IBD patients. The purpose of this randomized placebo controlled pilot trial will be to evaluate the efficacy and safety of postoperative VTE prophylaxis in IBD patients following abdominal surgery. If this pilot trial demonstrates efficacy in reducing postoperative DVT and PE rates, safety and feasibility, clinicians will be armed with the knowledge to pursue a larger multicenter randomized trial with the intent of reducing overall morbidity and mortality in this high risk population. Read Less

In adult patients with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma, blocking TSLP with tezepelumab will improve ventilation heterogeneity (evaluated by hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI), and this will be associated with reduced airway inflammation (evaluated by sputum composition), luminal narrowing and plugging (evaluated by CT). Read Less

The PREPARE Pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a multi-center, parallel, blinded RCT that aims to assess the feasibility of a full RCT comparing preoperative very low energy diets (VLEDs) to standard of care prior to elective non-bariatric surgery for obese patients in terms of overall 30-day postoperative morbidity. Adult patients with body mass indices (BMIs) greater than 30 kg/m2 will be randomized 1:1 to receive 3-weeks of preoperative VLED plus preoperative weight loss counselling or preoperative weight loss counselling alone. This trial will enroll patients to assess recruitment, compliance, and follow-up completion to assess the feasibility of a full RCT powered to assess for differences in 30-day postoperative between VLEDs and standard of care arms. Read Less

This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of a rural-DOC Pilot clinic which will be established in the Huntsville site of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. Patients from the Muskoka region who are confirmed to have a low-risk penicillin allergy are eligible for participation in the DOC clinic. Following their experience with the DOC, participation in this study will be voluntary and feedback will be requested from each participant, and local primary care providers. The feedback will be used to assess the impact of the DOC clinic on participants and the medical community over the 2 - year study. Feedback will also be collected to investigate ongoing antimicrobial use for those participants who were successfully delabeled. This will be accomplished by surveying participants at six and twelve months after their DOC. Read Less

At present, it is not clear whether performing a hip arthroscopy at the same time as a PAO improves patient outcomes after surgery compared to a PAO alone. This research project will randomize patients to receive either a PAO alone, or a PAO and a hip arthroscopy at the same time. Read Less

An abnormally formed hip joint (cam deformity) is a major cause of osteoarthritis (OA). Individuals may not experience any symptoms until OA is severe due to extensive cartilage loss and changes in underlying bone. A series of studies showed that the cam deformity can lead to the development of OA if left untreated, thus strongly suggesting a causal relationship. Currently, the cam deformity that causes pain is surgically removed to relieve the pain and treat the associated cartilage damage. Recent studies have demonstrated that surgical treatment leads to bone and cartilage changes that were related to improved function and reduced pain. Read Less

External beam radiotherapy combined with androgen deprivation therapy is a standard treatment option for localized prostate cancer. The current standard involves delivering radiotherapy uniformly throughout the prostate gland in daily fractions, five days per week, for approximately four weeks. In this study, radiotherapy will be delivered using an ultra-hypofractionated approach in three larger fractions on alternating days over one week Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging will be used to guide focal dose escalation to parts of the gland harboring tumor, which could potentially reduce the risk of cancer recurrence compared to standard dose of radiotherapy. The aim of this study is to confirm that this approach can be delivered safely, that is, with rates of urinary and bowel side effects at 1 year of follow-up that are not significantly greater than the current standard. Read Less

This is a randomized open label study in de novo liver transplant recipients that aims to compare the risk of tacrolimus induced tremors with once daily extended-release formulation, Envarsus, versus the twice daily immediate-release formulation. Both formulations of tacrolimus are currently approved for the prevention of rejection in liver transplant patients. Read Less

The genicular artery embolization vs nerve ablation intervention (GENI) knee OA study is a three-arm randomized controlled trial to evaluate symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in patients after receiving one of three interventions: sham procedure, geniculate artery embolization (GAE) or genicular nerve phenol nerve ablation (PNA). The main question\[s\] the study aims to answer are: * Does GAE or genicular nerve PNA result in OA symptom alleviation compared to sham procedure? * Are there molecular or imaging biomarkers that aid in predicting treatment response for GAE or genicular nerve PNA? Subjects (N=150) patients with knee OA, resistant to non-surgical treatment for at least 3 months will be randomized 1:1:1 to either after GAE, genicular nerve PNA or sham procedure. Clinical outcomes will be measured using Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and 11-point numerical rating scale (NRS) for pain completed at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months and then every 6 months for either two years or until the time of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery. Read Less