Active clinical trials for "Ascites"

Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a serious complication in patients of cirrhosis with ascites and may occur despite antibiotic prophylaxis. Small bowel dysmotility and bacterial overgrowth have been documented to be related to SBP. Aims: To investigate whether addition of prebiotic plus probiotics (synbiotics) to norfloxacin enhances the efficacy of norfloxacin in prevention of SBP in high risk patients with ascites. Methods: A prospective, double blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted in consecutive high-risk cirrhotic patients with ascites who had either recovered from an episode of SBP (secondary prophylaxis) or who never had SBP but were at high risk for development of SBP (low ascitic fluid protein or serum bilirubin ≥2.5 mg/dL; primary prophylaxis). Norfloxacin 400 mg once daily with synbiotic capsules (Streptococcus faecalis JPC 30 million, Clostridium butyricum 2 million, Bacillus mesentericus JPC 1 million, Lactobacillus sporogenes 50 million spores) 2 t.i.d. (group I) or norfloxacin 400 mg once daily with placebo (group II) was given and occurrence of SBP within a period of 6 months (primary endpoint) or side-effects of therapy and mortality (secondary endpoints) were recorded. Every patient received IV albumin to maintain a serum albumin level of >3.2 g/dl. SBP was treated with intravenous antibiotics with albumin.

This study has two aims. Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a common suspected medical condition. If it cannot be excluded clinically and using D-dimer, ultrasound examination is required. An option for traditional radiologist-performed ultrasound is a 2-point compression ultrasound (2-CUS). The safety of this technique is proven. However there does not exist any data on costs comparing traditional and 2-CUS pathways in primary health care. This study will evaluate the total cost of both pathways by conducting a cost-minimization analysis. It will also study the effect of a simple ultrasound education on the referrals to hospital due to suspected DVT. Hypothesis 1: Short education in ultrasound will reduce significantly referrals to hospital and save resources. Length of stay (LOS) in emergency department (ED) is related to increased mortality, morbidity, prolonged hospital stay and probably patient satisfaction. LOS of patients with a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) performed by an emergency physician (EP) will be compared to those that have a radiology performed ultrasound examination. Further examination and accuracy of POCUS will be noted. Hypothesis 2: POCUS can shorten LOS significantly in selected clinical conditions

Norfloxacin is the most commonly used drug for the prophylaxis against spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in patients with liver cirrhosis. Rifaximin, another broad spectrum antibiotic with only trivial absorption from the gut, is used for the treatment of traveler's diarrhea and prevention of hepatic encephalopathy.

Large volume paracentesis with albumin administration is the standard of care for patients with refractory ascites complicating end-stage liver disease. However, the use of albumin is frequently limited due to expense and occasional short supply. The goal of this study is to demonstrate if the administration of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is as effective as albumin for volume expansion at the time of a large volume paracentesis.

The study will be a randomized trial that will compare two techniques of abdominal paracentesis in patients with suspected peritoneal carcinomatosis. The patients will undergo abdominal paracentesis by the standard technique and a rollover technique. In the standard technique, the patients will lie flat for 10 minutes and abdominal paracentesis will be taken for ascitic fluid cytology. In the rollover group, patients with suspected peritoneal carcinomatosis will be rolled over thrice laterally on each side by 90 degrees and sample will then be obtained for ascitic fluid cytology. both the samples will be processed by blinded cytopathologist for tumour cellularity and diagnostic yield.

The primary objective of this study, sponsored by Travera in Massachusetts, is to validate whether the mass response biomarker has potential to predict response of patients to specific therapies or therapeutic combinations using isolated tumor cells from varying cancers and biopsy formats.

The ATLANTIS-study was designed to determine the safety of a full paracentesis in patients with malignant ascites due to ovarian cancer. The underlying hypothesis states, that full paracentesis does not impair safety, compared to fractioned paracentesis with clamping of the drain. Half of the patients will receive a full paracentesis, while the other half will receive fractioned paracentesis with clamping of the drain after 3 liters of ascites was evacuated. All patients receive extensive monitoring of hemodynamics and kidney function.

The investigators hypothesize that there is significant variability in management of patients with ascites despite guidelines provided by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the professional organization most involved with management of liver patients. This variability may be attributable to knowledge deficits, skill limitations, or reflect systems-issues that limit the ability of a care provider to implement the clinical guidelines (time constraints, inadequate supervision, availability of appropriate equipment, and obtaining consent for non-emergent procedures). This variability does a disservice to the patients being treated, and results in trainee development of habits that are not evidence based. There are simple teaching tools available that may improve learning and retention of evidence based practice. Using these tools should result in more consistent appropriate patient care, improve patient outcomes, and provide better education to our trainees. The purpose of this study is threefold: 1. To improve medical house-staff's technical performance of and comfort level with paracentesis; 2. To improve adherence to professional organization guidelines and to determine if this in fact improves clinical outcomes; 3. To evaluate efficacy of three teaching interventions in inpatient medicine trainee rotations.

This protocol represents an open-label pilot study to assess whether oral administration of SBI in subjects with decompensated cirrhosis with ascites can lead improvements in the management of the disease. The impact of SBI therapy will be based on changes to markers of bacterial translocation, gut barrier damage, and inflammation as well as the impact on rates of SIBO. Study subjects will be given one packet of EnteraGam, each packet containing 5.0 g SBI, twice daily for 8 weeks.

This investigational trial will be assessing the effect of rifaximin on pathophysiology and haemodynamics in the patient with liver cirrhosis, and addressing the effect of rifaximin on several organs on marker level. The molecular and physiological effects of rifaximin will be explored. The investigators hypothesize that intestinal decontamination with rifaximin in patients with cirrhosis and ascites will interrupt bacterial translocation from the gut, diminish the following inflammatory response, prevent splanchnic vasodilatation and portal systemic contraction and thereby reduce the risk clinical complications to cirrhosis. If rifaximin can correct small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and demonstrate improvement in liver haemodynamics, renal function and systemic dynamics, then these effects may contribute to the overall well-being of the patient and prevent complications to the underlying cirrhosis such as risk of infections, progression of disease, and admission to hospital.