Neuroleptic rotation for refractory agitation in cancer patients with delirium in the acute palliative care unit: A double-blind randomized clinical trial.

12006 Background: Terminal agitation commonly occurs in the last days of life and is highly distressing. The role of neuroleptics is controversial and few studies have examined agitation as a primary outcome. We assessed the effect of 3 neuroleptic strategies on refractory agitation in cancer patients with terminal delirium. Methods: In this single-center, double-blind, double-dummy parallel group randomized trial, patients admitted to a palliative and supportive care unit with refractory agitation despite low dose haloperidol were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to (1) haloperidol dose escalation, (2) neuroleptic rotation to chlorpromazine, or (3) combined haloperidol and chlorpromazine. Intravenous medications at equivalent doses were scheduled every 4 h and every 1 h as needed until discharge. The primary outcome was change in Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) from time 0 to 24 hours. With 15 patients per group and 13 measurements over time, we had 90% power to detect an effect size of 0.2 with alpha=2.5%. One way ANOVA was used to examine within group differences. We also compared among groups with the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results: 68 patients were enrolled and 45 received the blinded study interventions. The median survival was 73 h (95% CI 49, 106 h). RASS decreased significantly within 30 minutes and remained low at 24 hours in the dose escalation group (mean RASS change between 0 and 24 h [95% CI]: -3.6 [-5, -2.2]) v. rotation group (-3.3 [-4.4, -2.2]) v. combination group (-3 [-4.6, -1.4]), with no difference among groups (P=0.71). A majority of patients were perceived to be more comfortable after treatment by blinded caregivers (escalation v. rotation v. combination: 62% v. 71% v. 60%; P=0.83) and bedside nurses (64% v. 75% v. 64%; P=0.82); however, the rotation group had significantly fewer breakthrough restlessness (escalation v. rotation v. combination: 73% v. 19% v. 50%; P=0.009), required fewer upward dose titration (escalation v. rotation v. combination: 27% v. 6% v. 50%; P=0.03) and required less rescue neuroleptics in the first 24 hours (haloperidol equivalent: 4 mg vs. 2 mg vs. 6 mg, P=0.09, trend only). Hypotension was more frequently observed with chlorpromazine. Overall survival did not differ (>0.99). Conclusions: Preliminary data from this study supported that all 3 strategies of neuroleptics reduced agitation and improved comfort in patients with terminal delirium; however, neuroleptic rotation provided better agitation control and confirmatory studies are needed. Clinical trial information: NCT03021486 .