New multi-centre trial in critically bleeding trauma patients
Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) is the lead site for a Queensland clinical trial aiming to improve outcomes for severely injured trauma patients with critical bleeding.
Patient recruitment for the Fibrinogen Early In Severe Trauma studY (FEISTY) trial began with its launch at GCUH in December 2016.
In total, 100 patients will participate in the research at the four major trauma centres in Queensland – GCUH, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and The Townsville Hospital. The clinical trial involves the multidisciplinary collaboration of multiple departments, including Queensland Ambulance Service, ED, Trauma, Anaesthesia, ICU and Blood Bank.
GCUH Intensive Care Specialist Dr James Winearls is the Chief Investigator behind the Gold Coast investigations into the use of a concentrated blood clotting product early in the treatment of severely bleeding trauma patients.
“Fibrinogen is one of the key clotting factors that needs to be replaced in severe traumatic bleeding,” Dr Winearls said.
“Currently Fibrinogen is replaced using Cryoprecipitate; a blood product obtained from healthy volunteer donors that can take a long time to administer and place significant strain on blood banks.”
“Essentially, this trial will seek to establish if administering fibrinogen concentrate is quicker and possibly more effective in reducing haemorrhage.”
The FEISTY trial has been made possible with more than $600,000 in funding, including research grants from the Emergency Medicine Foundation ($292,000), which was funded by Queensland Health; the National Blood Authority ($190,000); and a Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service Grant ($132,000). The trial is also being run in collaboration with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.
An EMF spokesperson says the study will address key areas recently highlighted by the National Blood Authority as requiring further research.
The research was profiled by Seven News Gold Coast in April 2017.
Photo: Gold Coast University Hospital Intensive Care Specialist Dr James Winearls and FEISTY research assistant, Sarah Czuchwicki. Image courtesy Gold Coast Health
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