Clinical trials

This is a study of the use of an antibacterial solution, Hypochlorous acid, to prevent infection in vascular surgery bypass grafts. The solution will be used at the end of operations to insert a prosthetic vascular surgery bypass graft, to wash the wound and the vascular bypass graft before the wound is closed. The patients in this study will be undergoing surgery for problems with narrowed and or blocked arteries. The presence or absence of a graft infection will be followed for 12 months following the surgery. Prosthetic vascular graft infections have significant implications for patients with high rates of death and amputation, hence preventing them will have significant benefits for patients and the health care system.

The purpose of this study is to determine if IVUS use, as compared to angiography alone, prevent major adverse limb events (MALE) or binary restenosis (a greater than 50% re-narrowing of the treated artery) in adult patients who have CLTI and are undergoing percutaneous revascularization.

LAAOS-4 aims to determine if catheter-based endovascular left atrial appendage occlusion prevents ischemic stroke or systemic embolism in participants with atrial fibrillation, who remain at high risk of stroke, despite receiving ongoing treatment with oral anticoagulation.

The purpose of this pilot randomized-controlled trial is to determine whether Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) treatment demonstrates feasibility, acceptability, and prelinary effectiveness among patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Specifically, the investigators aim to compare changes in weight, gut microbiome, urine, blood biomarkers and mood symptoms between participants receiving the FMT intervention and placebo.

The BRACKETS pilot study is a multicentre, prospective, randomized controlled trial of prophylactic preoperative tranexamic acid (TXA) versus placebo and, using a partial factorial design, of prophylactic preoperative desmopressin versus placebo.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of disability in older adults worldwide affecting 7% of the global population, or more than 500 million people globally. Total joint replacements (TJR) can help bring relief to those with osteoarthritis when other treatment options are no longer helpful. Infection is the main reason hip and knee replacements "fail". Failure leads to repeat surgeries that are often more complicated and less likely to be successful than the first surgery. Reducing the risk of infection is extremely important, antiseptic washes and antibiotics may help us do that. After joint replacement surgery, orthopaedic surgeons wash and clean the surgical wound to lower the risk of infection. The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if the use of antiseptic solutions to wash the surgical site and placing an antibiotic directly into the wound will reduce the number of infections requiring reoperation. Patients having total joint replacements will be randomized (like flipping a coin) to receive 6 possible combinations of washes and / or antibiotics. Participants will be followed for one year after TJR to compare the rate of infection in each group.

Anterior cervical spine surgery (ACSS) is a procedure for the treatment of several neck problems. Even though the procedure is overall safe and effective, there are possible complications after surgery, which include problems swallowing, hoarseness of the voice, and pain when swallowing. There are two different ways the spinal surgeon can approach the spine from the front of the neck. One is called a Smith-Robinson approach, and the other is called a strap-splitting approach. Each approach uses the same skin cut, the difference is only in how the next layer is approached, whether on the outside (Smith-Robinson) or through (strap-splitting) one of the small muscles in your neck. Because of the slightly different approaches to the surgery, we want to see if there are differences in complications related to swallowing and speaking between these two approaches. Participants will undergo one of the two surgical approaches, based on surgeon preference. Participants will complete a questionnaire at several time points during their clinical follow-up to assess any difficulties swallowing and speaking.

This pilot study will test a new imaging system that uses fluorescent dye and artificial intelligence (AI) during colonoscopy to measure how "leaky" the lining of the colon is in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The study will include 70 adults at 3 Canadian hospitals: 60 people with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease affecting the colon, and 10 people without IBD who are having colonoscopy for routine colorectal cancer screening or surveillance. During the colonoscopy, participants will receive intravenous fluorescein, and the imaging system will record fluorescence in the colon as the scope is withdrawn. The main goal is to find out whether this method can be used safely during routine colonoscopy and whether it can produce usable measurements of mucosal permeability. The study will also examine whether these measurements are related to standard measures of inflammation seen during endoscopy, in biopsy samples, and in ex vivo Ussing chamber testing at the McMaster site. The control group will help define what normal fluorescence and permeability look like. This study is intended to provide early data on whether this approach could become a useful new way to assess barrier dysfunction in IBD.

VISION-2 is an international, multi-site, prospective observational cohort study of 20,000 patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. Continuous biometric data will be blindly collected for the first 30 postoperative days, in hospital and at home, using Vitaliti™. Following study enrollment and baseline data collection, follow up visits will occur in-hospital, at 30-days, and 1-year post-operatively. VISION-2 has 3 primary objectives, among participants who underwent noncardiac surgery, the investigators will: 1) determine the pattern and frequency of physiological precursors (i.e., biophysical signals) to MINS, BIMS, sepsis, and infection without sepsis; 2) build prediction models from these biophysical signals and their extracted features through supervised machine learning, for the prediction and early detection of those complications; and 3) build a biobank for evaluation of novel biomarkers.

The aim of this study is to confirm prospectively if the use of near infrared-indocyanine green (NIR-ICG) alone offers similar accuracy and sensitivity to the gold standard dual technique for sentinel lymph node detection in early stage vulvar cancer.

The goal of this pragmatic, multi-centre factorial cluster randomized cross-over trial is to assess the efficacy of a combination of cefazolin plus vancomycin compared to cefazolin monotherapy, as well as a comparison of short versus long-term prophylaxis with four study arms: 1) cefazolin short-term, 2) cefazolin long-term, 3) cefazolin plus vancomycin short-term and 4) cefazolin plus vancomycin long-term.

To assess the benefit of using an additional nerve block during minimally invasive pituitary surgery, to improve pain management after surgery. The medication (Bupivacaine) or a placebo (saline) will be injected during surgery and patients will be asked about their level of pain at multiple time points in the first 24 hours following surgery. Some patients will be randomized to a third, sham group that do not receive any additional injection. The aim is to improve patient outcomes and reduce the need for pain medication after surgery.

The TaRGET study is a multi-centre, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial designed to evaluate the potential therapeutic efficacy of tideglusib, a glycogen synthase kinase-3 β inhibitor, in genotype positive arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.

Newborns born early are at risk for a serious health problem called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). PDA is a passageway between heart and lung that can cause life-threatening complications such as bleeding in the brain or even death if it remains open and large. When closure of PDA is needed, doctors make every attempt to do it as soon as possible. Ibuprofen is the best drug to close the PDA, but it only works for 50% of small newborns. The investigators have shown before that small newborns handle ibuprofen differently and the amount of active ibuprofen that reaches their blood can be very unpredictable. Studies have shown if enough ibuprofen reaches the body, it can close the PDA. Therefore the investigators designed this study to see whether it is possible to give each newborn the right amount of ibuprofen that their body needs to close the PDA. The investigators will compare two ways to give ibuprofen in a small number of newborns: 1 - standard amount of ibuprofen to everyone, which is the usual care or 2 - ibuprofen doses that will be changed based on how much active ibuprofen has reached the body and how well the newborn's PDA is closing. The investigators will then compare the number of PDAs closed in each group and closely monitor any possible challenges for this new practice. By doing this project, the goals can be summarized as below: A. Primary goal: To determine if it is feasible to successfully run a larger study in the future. B. Secondary goals 1. To assess how well and how safely the personalized (MIPD) method works, using a tool called WAPPS-PDA to guide dosing. 2. To compare the effectiveness and safety of the personalized method with standard ibuprofen dosing. 3. To identify drug levels in the blood (Cmin, AUC0-24, AUC0-72) that are associated with complete, partial, or no response to treatment.

RIFAstrat is a Phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, non-inferiority trial to compare the 6-month standard treatment for DS-TB with a 4-month optimised- rifampicin based regimen provided to individuals with limited disease severity.

GAIN PC CONTROL is a study investigating Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in men with prostate cancer who are being treated with androgen deprivation therapy.

The objectives of this study is to estimate the biological activity of combination chemotherapy and radiation versus radiation alone in patients with Hepato Cellular Carcinoma (HCC). The study hypothesizes is that combination chemotherapy and radiation is superior to radiation alone in inducing a biological response. The study hypothesizes that combination chemotherapy and radiation is superior to radiation alone in inducing a biological response. A biological response, or change in the tumor microenvironment (TME), is defined by reduced infiltration of intra-tumoral regulatory T cells (Tregs), a decrease in tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) of the M2 phenotype, and an increase in immune cells such as effector CD8+ T-cells. An increased rate of biological response is therefore expected in participants receiving the combination of Durvalumab, Tremelimumab, and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), compared to those receiving SBRT alone. Additionally, biological response is hypothesized to correlate with pathological response. The study has been conducted within a WOO window of opportunity randomized clinical trial in order to obtain data in the quickest and safest manner. Patients undergoing surgery are very healthy by definition and will be able to tolerate treatment without any major complications, leading to adequate tissue samples before and after treatment.

The goal of this 2x2 factorial clinical trial is to test the efficacy of i) colchicine, and ii) thiamine in heart failure (HF) secondary to ischemic heart disease. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does colchicine reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death, a HF event, or an ischemic CV event * Does thiamine reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death, or a HF event Participants will undergo the following procedures: * Run-in: All participants will receive colchicine 0.5 mg daily to assess drug tolerance over a 3-4 week period. * Randomization: If colchicine is tolerated during run-in, eligible participants will be randomized in a 2x2 factorial design to receive i) colchicine 0.5mg daily or placebo, and ii) thiamine 300mg daily or no thiamine. * Follow-up: Clinical outcomes, side effects, adverse events, and drug adherence will be captured during follow-up

Health Literacy is one's ability to understand health information well enough to make informed decisions about their health. Limited health literacy makes it hard for people to understand complex health issues and follow health care recommendations. Limited health literacy is associated with adverse health outcomes such as higher mortality, increased risk of emergency department visits and hospital admissions leading to higher medical costs. Although there are tools to assess health literacy, they are not widely used, so many healthcare providers do not measure their patients' health literacy levels adequately. Health care workers tend to overestimate their patients' health literacy. This is especially important for older adults who often have memory problems and multiple illnesses. This study will evaluate how doctors and team members in a geriatric clinic estimate their patient's health literacy and determine if this matches with the patients' health literacy as measured by a simple validated questionnaire. The investigators will also look at how a patient's relative or caregiver estimates their health literacy using a similar short questionnaire. The research team plans to follow up with a telephone call in 6 months, to see which health concerns if any have occurred since the clinic visit.

The goal of this pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial is to determine whether Actazin (kiwifruit extract) is a feasible and effective alternative to polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG 3350) for maintenance therapy in children with functional constipation (FC). This study will include children aged 4 to 17 years who meet the Rome IV criteria for functional constipation. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Is it feasible to conduct a definitive, multi-centre trial comparing Actazin to PEG 3350 in children with FC? 2. What are the within-group differences in clinical outcomes such as stool frequency, abdominal pain, and laxative use over a 4-week period? Researchers will compare chewable Actazin tablets with placebo PEG 3350 powder to PEG 3350 powder with placebo Actazin tablets to see if Actazin is a viable non-pharmacologic natural health product alternative for treating FC. Participants will: Undergo an initial bowel cleanout using PEG 3350 and bisacodyl. Following, they will be randomized to one of two groups: 1. Actazin chewable tablets (titrate to effect: 600-2400 mg/day) + placebo PEG 3350 2. PEG 3350 (dose based on age and titratable to effect) + placebo Actazin chewable tablets Participants will take the assigned intervention daily for 4 weeks and complete a daily bowel diary recording stool frequency, consistency (Bristol Stool Scale), abdominal pain, and laxative use. They will have weekly follow-ups via phone or electronic survey to assess adherence, medication use, and adverse events. Additionally, a bi-weekly follow-up will be conducted for an additional 8 weeks to track longer-term outcomes. Outcomes: Primary feasibility outcomes include consent rate, adherence to allocated intervention, and 4-week follow-up completion rate. Secondary clinical outcomes include resolution of FC (Rome IV criteria), weekly stool frequency, abdominal pain episodes, use of rescue laxatives, and treatment palatability. This study is being conducted at McMaster Children's Hospital and is funded by the Hamilton Academic Health Sciences Organization (HAHSO). Data collection will be managed using the Lumedi™ platform, and safety will be overseen by a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB).

Phase 1 basket trial including 2 open-label single-arm cohorts: REPAIR CKD cohort and REPAIR Dialysis cohort. Open label colchicine 0.3 mg daily for 8 weeks followed, in patients who tolerated the 0.3 mg dose, by forced titration to 0.6 mg daily for 8 weeks.

Hamilton is a city with a growing newcomer population. Families who are new to Canada do not always have the same resources to access healthy active living (HAL) activities as compared to Canadian-born families. The SCORE! ACTIVE trial will recruit newcomer families with young children in Hamilton and help provide them with access to HAL activities. Through this, the investigators want to see if newcomer children's perspectives of physical activity will change over time. They will also see if increasing newcomer children's access to these resources will promote an increase in HAL behaviours.

This study aims to evaluate feasibility of a double-blind randomized controlled trial for levetiracetam prophylaxis for prevention of seizure in the perioperative phase of brain tumor resection.

The use of a lumbar brace following single-level lumbar fusion for degenerative spondylosis (non-traumatic) is variable between surgeons. Some surgeons prefer to prescribe a brace and others do not. There is a lack of guidelines and evidence to support either treatment option. The purpose of this study is to assess feasibility and collect preliminary data to conduct a larger, definitive trial to provide evidence as to whether prescribing a brace or not results in better or equal outcomes. Imaging by CT scan, one year after surgery, will be used to analyze bone fusion (healing), and functional and pain scores from patients during their recovery will be compared to identify differences between patients who wore a brace and those who did not.

Old age, obesity, physical inactivity, environmental factors and genetics may contribute negatively to fertility in both males and females. In males, specifically, certain supplements, such as single antioxidants and trace minerals, have previously been shown to improve sperm function marginally. One hypothesis is that sperm function can be improved even further by combining several different types of supplements (e.g., amino acids, energy carriers, vitamins, antioxidants, and trace minerals) to target several age-related cell pathways, for example, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation and cell energetics. This 3-month placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, aims to test the effects of a novel multi-ingredient supplement (Fertility Enhancer) that targets several age-related cell pathways on sperm function in overweight or obese and subfertile males.