Once Daily Intrapleural Enzyme Therapy in Complicated Parapneumonic Effusion or Empyema
Once Daily Intrapleural Enzyme Therapy in Complicated Parapneumonic Effusion or Empyema (ONLY ONCE)
- Pleural Infection Bacterial
- Pleural Infections
- Pleural Infections and Inflammations
- Empyema, Pleural
- Empyema
- Complicated Pleural Effusion/ Empyema
- Pleural Effusion Associated With Pulmonary Infection
- Pleural Effusion
At a glance
- Phase
- Phase 4
- Study type
- Interventional
- Sponsor
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Enrolment target
- 270
- Started
- 11 September 2025
- Main results due
- 30 September 2028
- Study sites
- 11
- Registry updated
- 29 September 2026
Can you take part?
- Aged 18 years and over.
- Open to any sex.
- You need the condition being studied — healthy volunteers are not accepted.
These are the headline rules only. Every study has a longer list, and whether you are eligible is decided by the research team at the site — never by this page.
Read the full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Written informed consent obtained from patient or patient's legally authorized representative (LAR) to participate in the study and HIPAA authorization for release of personal health information. * Subject is willing and able to comply with study procedures based on the judgement of the investigator or protocol designee. * Age ≥ 18 years at the time of consent. * Patient is admitted to the hospital and with a pleural effusion that is drained with a small-bore chest tube or one that allows for administration of IET * Pleural fluid that is one of the following: (i) Macroscopically purulent or pleural fluid gram stain or culture positive for bacteria (ii) potential of hydrogen (pH) \< 7.2 (iii) Pleural fluid glucose \< 60mg/dL (iv) Pleural fluid Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) \> 1,000 IU/L * Patient is deemed a candidate to receive intrapleural enzyme therapy as defined by having a residual collection or persistent sepsis 24 hours after initial chest tube placement Exclusion Criteria: * Known pregnancy or lactating females * Prisoners * Age \<18 years at time of consent * Previous treatment with intra-pleural fibrinolytic agents, DNase, or both during the same hospital admission * Known sensitivity or allergic reaction to DNAse or tPA * Coincidental stroke, major hemorrhage (requiring blood transfusions within the last 5 days), major trauma, or major surgery within the last 5 days * Previous pneumonectomy or active bronchopleural fistula on the affected side * Therapeutic systemic anticoagulation or antiplatelet agents that cannot held for more than 48 hours prior to IET administration * Expected survival of less than 3 months due to a pathologic condition other than that causing the pleural infection
What this study is about
In the sponsor’s own words, from the registry.
The goal of this clinical trial is to find out if giving certain medications once a day works just as well as giving them twice a day to treat infections around the lungs (called pleural infections). These medications-tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and deoxyribonuclease (DNase)-are placed through a chest tube into the space between the lung and the chest wall to help clear out the infection.
The investigators are trying to learn:
* Does using the medicine once a day work just as well as using it twice a day? * Are there any differences in outcomes between patients who get the medicine once a day versus twice a day? * Does more or less fluid remain in the chest (seen on a chest x-ray) depending on how often the medicine is given?
Participants will:
* Have an infection around their lung and will already be getting normal hospital care, including a chest tube to drain the infected fluid around their lung. * Be asked to give permission to join the study. * Be randomly chosen (like flipping a coin) to get the medications either once a day or twice a day through the chest tube.
Study sites(11)
University of Arkansas Medical Center
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
Recruiting
Stanford Hospital
Palo Alto, California, United States
Recruiting
UCSD Hillcrest Medical Center
San Diego, California, United States
Recruiting
Yale New Haven Hospital
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Recruiting
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Recruiting
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Recruiting
Henry Ford Hospital
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Recruiting
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States
Recruiting
NYU Langone Health
New York, New York, United States
Recruiting
UNC Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Recruiting
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Recruiting
Showing 11 of 11 sites. 11 of the 11 sites on this study are recruiting right now — a site can stop enrolling while the study as a whole is still open.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07095361. Trialion does not run this study, is not paid to refer anyone to it, and cannot enrol you. Eligibility is always decided by the research team at the site.
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