The MENDS2 Study, Maximizing the Efficacy of Sedation and Reducing Neurological Dysfunction and Mortality in Septic Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure

Completed · Phase 3

Conditions studied: Sepsis, Delirium, Impaired Cognition

In brief

Ventilated ICU patients frequently have sepsis and the majority have delirium, a form of brain dysfunction that is an independent predictor of increased risk of dying, length of stay, costs, and prolonged cognitive impairment in survivors. Universally prescribed sedative medications-the GABA-ergic benzodiazepines-worsen this brain organ dysfunction. The available alternative sedation regimens, the shorter acting GABA-ergic propofol, and the alpha2 agonist, dexmedetomidine, have both been shown to be superior to benzodiazepines, and yet are different with regard to their effects on innate immunity, bacterial clearance, apoptosis, cognition and delirium. The MENDS2 study will compare propofol and dexmedetomidine, and determine the best sedative medication to reduce delirium and improve survival and long-term brain function in our most vulnerable patients- the ventilated septic patient.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01739933

Run by

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

People needed

438

Starts

2013-05-15

Expected to finish

2019-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2021-06-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Consecutive patients will be eligible for inclusion in the MENDS2 study if they are: [1] adult patients (≥18 years old) [2] in a medical and/or surgical ICU and [3] on MV and requiring sedation and [4] have suspected or known infection

You may not qualify if…

• Patients will be excluded (i.e., not consented) for any of the following reasons:
• Rapidly resolving organ failure, indicated by planned immediate discontinuation of MV, at time of screening for study enrollment
• Pregnant or breastfeeding
• Severe dementia or neurodegenerative disease, defined as either impairment that prevents the patient from living independently at baseline or IQCODE >4.5, measured using a patient's qualified surrogate. This exclusion also pertains to mental illnesses requiring long-term institutionalization, acquired or congenital mental retardation, severe neuromuscular disorders, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. It also excludes patients in coma or with severe deficits due to structural brain diseases such as stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, cranial trauma, malignancy, anoxic brain injury, or cerebral edema.
• History of 2nd or 3rd degree heart block, bradycardia < 50 beats/minute, pacemaker for bradyarrythmias or uncompensated shock.If patient has a pacemaker for bradyarrythmias, then patient does not meet this exclusion criterion and may be enrolled.
• Benzodiazepine dependency or history of alcohol dependency based on the medical team's decision to institute a specific treatment plan involving benzodiazepines (either as continuous infusions or intermittent intravenous boluses) for this dependency.
• Active seizures during this ICU admission being treated with intravenous benzodiazepines.
• Expected death within 24 hours of enrollment or lack of commitment to aggressive treatment by family/medical team (e.g., likely to withdraw life support measures within 24 hrs of screening)
• Inability to understand English or deafness or vision loss that will preclude delirium evaluation. The inability to understand English (for example in Spanish-only or Mandarin-only speaking patients) will not result in exclusion at centers where the research staff is proficient and/or translation services are actively available in that particular language; these patients will not be followed in the long-term follow-up phase of the trial since the testing materials are primarily available only in English. Patients with laryngectomies and those with hearing deficits are eligible for enrollment if their medical condition permits them to communicate with research staff.
• Inability to obtain informed consent from an authorized representative within 48 hours of meeting all inclusion criteria, i.e., developing sepsis and qualifying organ dysfunction criteria for the following reasons:
• Attending physician refusal.
• Patient and/or surrogate refusal.
• Patient unable to consent and no surrogate available.
• 48-hour period of eligibility was exceeded before the patient was screened.
• Prisoners.
• Medical team following patient unwilling to use the sedation regimens.
• Documented allergy to propofol or dexmedetomidine.
• Current enrollment in a study that does not allow co-enrollment or that uses delirium as a primary outcome.
• Patients who are on muscle relaxant infusions at time of screening with plans to maintain paralysis >48 hours.
• Greater than 96 hours on mechanical ventilation prior to meeting all inclusion criteria.

Where it is running

• University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, California, United States
• Baton Rouge General Medical Center and Our Lady of The Lakes Regional Medical Center — Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
• Tufts Medical Center — Boston, Massachusetts, United States
• Baystate Medical Center — Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
• Mission Hospital — Asheville, North Carolina, United States
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center — Nashville, Tennessee, United States
• Texas Health Harris Fort Worth — Fort Worth, Texas, United States
• Baylor College of Medicine — Houston, Texas, United States
• Houston Methodist Hospital — Houston, Texas, United States
• University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio — San Antonio, Texas, United States
• University of Wisconsin — Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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