NCT05085873

Sodium Oxybate Versus Midazolam for Comfort Sedation

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 22 (actual)
• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Toulon La Seyne sur Mer · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The study aims at deepen the proof level of sodium oxybate use for comfort sedation at the end of life in a palliative care unit by comparing it to midazolam in a prospective randomized study with blinded efficacy evaluation. The study will be carried out for a period of 24 months with a recruitment objective of 22 patients with refractory suffering and with a short-term prognosis.

Detailed description

In certain cases, terminally-ill patients may show persistent symptoms despite numerous efforts to find a comfort treatment without causing impaired consciousness. In these cases and after a collegial discussion, sedation may be offered. Midazolam is then the most typically used sedative agent. However, it has limitations: frequent awakenings, tolerance and major respiratory depression. Furthermore, the use of midazolam as a "gold standard" in palliative sedation at the end of life falls under expert consensus without a high level of evidence. Sodium oxybate (GammaOH®), is an ancient molecule used in anesthesia and other medical fields. It appears to be an attractive alternative to midazolam. Study hypothesis is as follows: deep sedation induced by sodium oxybate (RASS: -4 or -5) is more constant and sustainable than by using midazolam which can cause fluctuating effects and requires frequent dosage adjustments. The single-blind clinical trial aims at comparing the possibility to obtain constant deep sedation using midazolam or sodium oxybate. Before the induction, the patient is not aware of the medication used. The medical team must be aware of it because the two administration procedures are too different.

Conditions

• Palliative Care

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Sodium Oxybate injection	* Induction dosage : 60 mg/kg by direct intravenous injection. * Continuous dosage : 45 mg/kg/h by continuous intravenous injection. * Additional dosage if the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) score exceeds -4 : 1000 mg sodium oxybate by direct intravenous injection bolus every hour at most until RASS score reaches -4. Sedation maintained until patient death.
DRUG	Midazolam injection	* Induction dosage : 1 mg every 3 min by direct intravenous injection until RASS score reaches -4 (with a maximum of 30 min). * Continuous dosage : Half of titration dosage every hour by continuous intravenous injection. * Additional dosage if the RASS score exceeds -4 : 1 mg every 3 min by direct intravenous injection (without exceeding 10 mg/h). Sedation maintained until patient death.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-10-14
• Primary completion: 2023-10-10
• Completion: 2023-10-10
• First posted: 2021-10-20
• Last updated: 2026-01-26

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Monaco