CORTERAS STUDY: The Effect of Corticosteroids on Early Recovery After Major Surgery in Elderly Patients

Launched by ZIEKENHUIS OOST-LIMBURG · Jan 31, 2022

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ClinConnect Summary

The CORTERAS study is looking at how giving elderly patients corticosteroids (a type of medication) right before or during major surgery can help them recover faster. Major surgery can lead to inflammation in the body, which may cause problems like muscle weakness and delays in recovery. By giving high doses of corticosteroids, researchers hope to reduce this inflammation and improve recovery outcomes for patients.

To be eligible for this study, participants need to be 60 years or older and scheduled for certain types of surgeries, such as heart bypass surgery or laparoscopic prostate removal. Those who can’t provide consent, have severe nausea, need urgent surgery, or have specific allergies or muscle diseases may not be included. If you choose to participate, you’ll receive either corticosteroids or no corticosteroids during your surgery, and researchers will track how this affects your recovery and muscle strength afterward. This study aims to understand the best ways to help older patients heal after surgery.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Aged 60 years or older.
• * Scheduled for one of the predefined surgical procedures:
• • off-pump coronary bypass surgery
• • on-pump coronary bypass surgery
• • aortic and mitral valve replacement
• • laparoscopic hemicolectomies
• • thoracoscopic lung resections
• • femoral popliteal and tibial bypass surgery and femoral profundoplasty
• • laparoscopic radical prostatectomies
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Lack of informed consent or inability to give informed consent.
• • Severe postoperative nausea \& vomiting (PONV), needing corticosteroids as PONV prophylaxis.
• • Urgent, not elective surgery
• • Hypersensitivity or known allergic reactions to methylprednisolone
• * Preoperative systemic use of steroids:
• • Including, but not limited to, the use of corticosteroids \> 4 weeks before surgery of at least 4 mg methylprednisolone equivalents.
• • Excluding inhalational and topical steroids
• • Preexisting muscle disease o Including, but not limited to: Steinert's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Duchenne dystrophy, amputation of dominant arm or hand.