Ideal Steroids for Asthma Treatment in the PICU

Phase 4

Completed

Conditions: Asthma Childhood

Interventions: Drug: Dexamethasone

Registration Number: NCT03900624

Lead Sponsor: Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital

Brief Summary: Determine if differences in (1) pediatric intensive care unit length of stay, (2) continuous nebulized albuterol duration, and (3) a composite outcome of advanced asthma therapy incidence including use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV), terbutaline, inhaled helium and mechanical ventilation between cohorts of children admitted with status asthmaticus to the PICU treated with either IV dexamethasone (DM) or methylprednisolone (MP).

Detailed Description: As the pathophysiology of an acute asthma exacerbation is dysregulated inflammatory pathways, standard treatment includes the prompt initiation of intravenous systemic corticosteroids. Corticosteroids reduce the production of many mediators involved in the inflammatory process and inhibit macrophages, monocytes, T-lymphocytes, eosinophils, and basophils, which are activated during this process. Furthermore, corticosteroids improve the efficacy of beta-2 agonists, such as albuterol, a nebulized medication used for bronchodilation in acute asthma exacerbations. There remains an ongoing dialogue among the expert medical community regarding the superiority of specific IV corticosteroid, dosing, route and delivery. This debate continues secondary to a lack of definitive comparative data in the literature. While the benefits of receiving systemic corticosteroids has been demonstrated in multiple studies, to date, no head-to-head trials have been conducted comparing IV systemic corticosteroids in the PICU setting (DM vs. MP).

While several systemic corticosteroids are FDA approved for the treatment of asthma exacerbation including prednisone, prednisolone, MP and DM, the standard practice in PICU-level care is IV MP every 6 hours until enteral medications can be safely tolerated. Recent data from emergency room literature would suggest there is equipoise in use of dexamethasone as an alternative for methylprednisolone due to its increased glucocorticoid (anti-inflammatory) potency. Steroid agents are chosen at the discretion of clinical providers based upon a child's capacity to tolerate enteral medications and the specific clinical setting (outpatient vs. general inpatient vs. critical inpatient).

The investigators have performed a retrospective study over a 2-year period to assess if differences in clinical outcomes or adverse events exist in cohorts defined by DM exposure in the ER. Their data revealed no differences, but most children were switched to MP during their PICU stay making data analyses severely confounded by exposure to the defining characteristics of the comparative cohort. The investigators seek to first prospectively consent individuals to receive DM during their PICU asthma treatment and compare outcomes to PICU asthmatics concurrently admitted to the PICU receiving local standard care (MP). Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHACH) admits approximately 150 asthmatics per year in the PICU and the investigators hope to enroll up to 50 subjects into a DM only arm. The comparative standard care arm will be assessed at the end of the study period. Primary outcomes include (1) PICU Length of Stay, (2) Continuous nebulized albuterol duration, and (3) a composite outcome including use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV), terbutaline, inhaled helium, inhaled anesthetic gas, mechanical ventilation, and extracorporeal life support. This research will provide the needed epidemiologic and basic comparative data required to power and conduct a definitive, head-to-head trial of DM vs. MP.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 92

Inclusion Criteria

Inclusion criteria are children 5 to 17 years of age with primary admission diagnoses of acute asthma exacerbation or status asthmaticus admitted to the PICU

Exclusion Criteria

children with existing tracheostomy, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Dexamethasone Arm	Dexamethasone	Non-randomized, open-label, prospective use of intravenous dexamethasone for children admitted to the PICU with status asthmaticus.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Length of Stay	From enrollment through hospital discharge, up to 1 week	Hospital length of stay measured in days.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Duration of Continuous Nebulized Albuterol	From enrollment through hospital discharge, up to 1 week	Duration (in days) of continuous nebulized albuterol.