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NCT07095361From ClinicalTrials.govRecruiting

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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