The RE-ENERGIZE Study: RandomizEd Trial of ENtERal Glutamine to minimIZE Thermal Injury

NCT ID: NCT00985205

Last Updated: 2021-12-30

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

1201 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2010-12-31

Study Completion Date

2021-12-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to test the following hypotheses:

1. Enteral glutamine administration decreases in-hospital mortality in adult patients with severe thermal burn injuries.
2. Enteral glutamine administration decreases hospital-acquired blood stream infections from Gram negative organisms and length of stay in ICU and hospital for adult patients with severe thermal burn injuries.
3. Enteral glutamine administration will improve the physical function of surviving burn injured patients and reduce their cost of care.

The objectives of this trial are to determine the overall treatment effect and safety of glutamine in burn patients. Specifically, the investigators want to assess the following outcomes in a sample of 1200 patients in 80 sites:

1. In patients with severe, life-threatening burn injury, what is the effect of enteral glutamine on time to discharge alive from hospital
2. In patients with severe, life-threatening burn injury, what is the effect of enteral glutamine on 6 month mortality, hospital-acquired blood stream infections from Gram negative organisms, hospital mortality, duration of stay in ICU and hospital, health-related quality of life, and health care resources?

Detailed Description

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Burn injuries represent a public health problem worldwide, ranked fourth in all injuries and are among the leading cause of disability adjusted life years in low and middle-income countries. More than in any other injury, the inflammation and catabolism associated with severe burns can exacerbate nutrient deficiencies, thereby predisposing patients to impaired immune function and increased risk of developing infectious complications, organ dysfunction, and death. Consequently, over the last few decades numerous trials have evaluated the impact of different nutrition/nutrient strategies in severe burns patients. Glutamine is of particular interest in this regard as it appears vital for a number of key stress-response pathways in serious illness. The existing randomized trials of glutamine supplementation in burns patients have suggested a significant reduction in mortality, infection, and hospital length of stay. However, in other critically ill patient populations, there is a signal of increased mortality associated with glutamine administration. Given this conflicting evidence, burn practitioners are either harming or saving lives with glutamine use. We hypothesize that the inexpensive therapeutic strategy tested in this multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial of supplemental enteral glutamine in 1200 severe burn injury patients will lead to lower morbidity and mortality and reduced health care costs in an otherwise very devastating and disabling injury worldwide.

In our pilot study (Critical Care Medicine, 2003, 31:2444) we found a protective effect of glutamine against blood infection in severely burned adult patients. In addition, a significant decrease in mortality was observed with glutamine. These results should be tested with a multi-center trial because our study was small and did not have mortality as an end point.

The specific aims of the study are to determine the overall treatment effect and safety of glutamine in burn patients. Clinical outcomes will be: mortality, time to discharge alive, incidence of acquired bacteremia due to Gram negative organisms, hospital mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU stay and hospital stay. The cost-effectiveness of glutamine administration will also be measured if the results show a decrease in length of care or a reduced incidence of acquired bacteremia due to Gram negative organisms with glutamine.

The study will be a large, multicenter, double-blind, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial of 1200 patients with severe burns randomly allocated to receive enteral glutamine or placebo. Randomization will be concealed and stratified by site allocating patients 1:1 to either glutamine or matching placebo by the method of permuted blocks of random undisclosed size within strata. Patients will be adults, a minimum of 18 years old, with deep 2nd and/or 3rd degree burns requiring grafting, and for patients age 18 - 39 years a (Total Body Surface Area) TBSA burn ≥ 20% or in the presence of an inhalation injury a minimum of 15% TBSA burn is required; for patients age 40 - 59 years a TBSA burn ≥ 15% is required; for patients aged 60 years or older a TBSA burn ≥ 10% is required. The study will include approximately 80 burn centers in Canada, the US, Europe and Latin America. Patients will receive glutamine or a placebo through their feeding tube, every 4 hours or TID or QID if taking things by mouth, for a total of 0.5 g/kg/day for patients with a BMI \<35. Patients with a BMI ≥35 will receive 0.5 g/kg/day based on an obesity-adjusted body weight. The study intervention will be administered until ≥7 days after the last successful grafting operation or until discharge from acute care unit or 3 months from admission, whichever comes first. Resuscitation, nutritional support, pain management, infection control and surgical care will be done according to standardized procedures.

The Data will be collected and managed by a professional and centralized organization for multi centres clinical research (Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Kingston, Ontario, Canada).

Conditions

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Burns

Keywords

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Randomized Clinical Trial Glutamine Themal Burn Injuries Nutrition Outcome Assessment Critical Care Total Body Surface Area

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Enteral Glutamine

0.5 g/kg/day mixed in water and given via nasogastric or feeding tube as boluses q 4 hrs or TID or QID if po

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Enteral Glutamine

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

0.5g/kg/day powdered glutamine to be mixed in with water and given via nasogastric or feeding tube q4 hrs or TID or QID if po.

Placebo

Mixed in with water and given via nasogastric or feeding tube as boluses q 4hrs or TID or QID if po

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Maltodextrin mixed with water given via NG or feeding tube Q 4 hours or TID or QID if po.

Interventions

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Enteral Glutamine

0.5g/kg/day powdered glutamine to be mixed in with water and given via nasogastric or feeding tube q4 hrs or TID or QID if po.

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Placebo

Maltodextrin mixed with water given via NG or feeding tube Q 4 hours or TID or QID if po.

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Other Intervention Names

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Glutamine Maltodextrin

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Deep 2nd and/or 3rd degree burns requiring grafting
2. Patient meets one of the following 4 criteria:

1. Patients 18 - 39 years of age with ≥ 20% TBSA\* burn
2. Patients 18 - 39 years of age with ≥ 15% TBSA\* burn and with inhalation injury
3. Patients 40 - 59 years of age with ≥ 15% TBSA\* burn
4. Patients ≥ 60 years of age ≥ 10% TBSA\* \*TBSA - Total Body Surface Area

Exclusion Criteria

1. \> 72 hrs from admission to ICU to time of consent.
2. Patients younger than 18 years of age.
3. a) Patients without known renal disease and renal dysfunction defined as a serum creatinine \>171 µmol/L or a urine output of less than 500 mL/last 24 hours (or 80 mL/last 4 hours if a 24 hour period of observation is not available).

b) Patients with acute on chronic renal failure (pre-dialysis) with an absolute increase of \>80 µmol/L from baseline or pre-admission creatinine or a urine output of \<500 mL/last 24 hours (or 80 mL/last 4 hours).

c) Patients with chronic renal failure on dialysis will be excluded.
4. Liver cirrhosis - Child-Pugh class C liver disease
5. Pregnant or lactating females.
6. Contra-indication for EN: intestinal occlusion or perforation, intra-abdominal injury.
7. Patients with injuries from high voltage electrical contact.
8. Patients who are moribund (not expected to survive the next 72 hours).
9. Patients with extreme body sizes: BMI \< 18 or \> 50
10. Enrollment in another industry sponsored ICU intervention study.
11. Received glutamine supplement for \> 24 hrs prior to randomization
12. Known allergy to maltodextrin, corn starch, corn, corn products or glutamine.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role collaborator

Daren K. Heyland

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Daren K. Heyland

Professor of Medicine

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Daren Heyland, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Queen's University

Locations

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University of South Alabama Medical Center

Mobile, Alabama, United States

Site Status

Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Site Status

Southern California Regional Burn Ctr at LAC & USC Med. Ctr.

Los Angeles, California, United States

Site Status

Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California

Sacramento, California, United States

Site Status

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Colorado

Aurora, Colorado, United States

Site Status

North Colorado Medical Center - Banner Health

Greeley, Colorado, United States

Site Status

Connecticut Burn Center

Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States

Site Status

The Burn Center at Washington Hospital Center

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

Site Status

Shands Burn Center at the University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida, United States

Site Status

University of South Florida/Tampa Gen. Hosp. Reg. Burn Center, FL

Tampa, Florida, United States

Site Status

Joseph M Still Burn Center

Augusta, Georgia, United States

Site Status

Department of Surgery University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics

Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Site Status

Mercy Hospital St. Louis

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Site Status

CHI St.Elizabeth Regional Burn Center

Lincoln, Nebraska, United States

Site Status

The Nebraska Medical Center

Omaha, Nebraska, United States

Site Status

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Site Status

Akron's Children's Hospital, Paul & Carol David Foundation

Akron, Ohio, United States

Site Status

The Ohio State University Wexnar Medical Center

Columbus, Ohio, United States

Site Status

Legacy Emmanuel Hospital & Health Center

Portland, Oregon, United States

Site Status

The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Burn Center

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

Firefighters' Regional Burn Center TN, University of Tennesse Health & Sciences Center

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Site Status

University of Texas Southwestern

Dallas, Texas, United States

Site Status

JBSA Fort Sam Houston

Fort Sam Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status

University of Texas Medical Branch

Galveston, Texas, United States

Site Status

Memorial Hermann/UTHSC

Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status

Harbourview Medical Center

Seattle, Washington, United States

Site Status

Columbia-St. Mary's, Milwaukee, Wi

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Site Status

Medical University of Graz

Graz, Styria, Austria

Site Status

Ghent University Hospital

Ghent, , Belgium

Site Status

University Hospital of Liège

Liège, , Belgium

Site Status

The Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo

São Paulo, , Brazil

Site Status

Foothills Medical Centre

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Site Status

HHS/Hamilton Firefighters Burn Unit

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Site Status

Ross Tilley Burn Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status

CHUM/Centre des Grands Brules

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Site Status

HEJ/Centre des Grands Brules

Québec, , Canada

Site Status

Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, , Dominican Republic

Site Status

RWTH Aachen University

Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Site Status

Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Ludwigshafen

Ludwigshafen, Rhein, Germany

Site Status

A.O.U. Citta della Salute e della Scienza di Torino

Torino, TO, Italy

Site Status

Centro Nacional de Quemaduras y Cirugia Reconstructiva

Asunción, , Paraguay

Site Status

Singapore General Hospital

Singapore, , Singapore

Site Status

Hospital Universitario La Fe

Valencia, , Spain

Site Status

Uppsala University Hospital

Uppsala, , Sweden

Site Status

Siriraj Hospital, Divison of Trauma Surgery, Mahidol University

Bangkok, NOI, Thailand

Site Status

King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital Chulalongkorn University

Bangkok, Pathumwan, Thailand

Site Status

Khon Kaen University

Nonthaburi, , Thailand

Site Status

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Birmingham, Edgbaston, United Kingdom

Site Status

St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals

Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Site Status

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

London, England, United Kingdom

Site Status

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals

Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom

Site Status

Manchester University NHSFT

Manchester, London, United Kingdom

Site Status

Pinderfields Hospital, Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust

London, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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Australia Mexico United States Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Dominican Republic Germany Italy Paraguay Singapore Spain Sweden Thailand United Kingdom

References

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Garrel D, Patenaude J, Nedelec B, Samson L, Dorais J, Champoux J, D'Elia M, Bernier J. Decreased mortality and infectious morbidity in adult burn patients given enteral glutamine supplements: a prospective, controlled, randomized clinical trial. Crit Care Med. 2003 Oct;31(10):2444-9. doi: 10.1097/01.CCM.0000084848.63691.1E.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 14530749 (View on PubMed)

Zhou YP, Jiang ZM, Sun YH, Wang XR, Ma EL, Wilmore D. The effect of supplemental enteral glutamine on plasma levels, gut function, and outcome in severe burns: a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2003 Jul-Aug;27(4):241-5. doi: 10.1177/0148607103027004241.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 12903886 (View on PubMed)

Peng X, Yan H, You Z, Wang P, Wang S. Effects of enteral supplementation with glutamine granules on intestinal mucosal barrier function in severe burned patients. Burns. 2004 Mar;30(2):135-9. doi: 10.1016/j.burns.2003.09.032.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15019120 (View on PubMed)

Heyland DK, Wibbenmeyer L, Pollack J, Friedman B, Turgeon AF, Eshraghi N, Jeschke MG, Belisle S, Grau D, Mandell S, Velamuri SR, Hundeshagen G, Moiemen N, Shokrollahi K, Foster K, Huss F, Collins D, Savetamal A, Gurney JM, Depetris N, Stoppe C, Ortiz-Reyes L, Garrel D, Day AG; RE-ENERGIZE Trial Team. A Randomized Trial of Enteral Glutamine for Treatment of Burn Injuries. N Engl J Med. 2022 Sep 15;387(11):1001-1010. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2203364. Epub 2022 Sep 9.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 36082909 (View on PubMed)

Heyland DK, Wischmeyer P, Jeschke MG, Wibbenmeyer L, Turgeon AF, Stelfox HT, Day AG, Garrel D. A RandomizEd trial of ENtERal Glutamine to minimIZE thermal injury (The RE-ENERGIZE Trial): a clinical trial protocol. Scars Burn Heal. 2017 Dec 12;3:2059513117745241. doi: 10.1177/2059513117745241. eCollection 2017 Jan-Dec.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 29799545 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Related Links

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Other Identifiers

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CIHR # 190808

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

RE-ENERGIZE

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id