The POPCORN trial will randomise post-operative children to receive either patient-controlled analgesia with morphine or patient-controlled analgesia with oxycodone. The primary outcome will be need for an antiemetic. Efficacy of analgesia, opioid consumption, sedation, itch and constipation will also be compared.
The trial is unique in that it is entirely embedded in the electronic medical record (EMR). The EMR can identify which children might be suitable to go into the trial and automatically alert the treating doctor. They can then discuss the trial with the family and then, if the family consent, the EMR can be used to randomly assign children to morphine or oxycodone. The trial also uses only information that is already routinely collected within the EMR as part of usual clinical care so all baseline variables, outcome measures and safety measures are collected without the need for any extra research staff. This design is very efficient and if feasible can substantially reduce the cost of trials. Thus a secondary aim of this trial is to determine the feasibility of such a totally embedded trial in the peri-operative setting.
Professor Andrew Davidson
Dr Su May Koh
Associate Professor Greta Palmer
Associate Professor George Chalkiadis
Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
The project was awarded A$13,731 funding through the ANZCA research grants program for 2024.