Guided (VENTRI-GUIDE) versus freehand ventriculostomy: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Despite the widespread use of external ventricular drainage, revision rates, and associated complications are reported between 10 and 40%. Current available image-guided techniques using stereotaxy, endoscopy, or ultrasound for catheter placements remain time-consuming techniques. Recently, a smartphone-assisted guide with high precision has been described. The development of an easy-to-use, portable, image-guided system could reduce the need for multiple passes and improve the rate of accurate catheter placement. This study aims to prospectively compare in a randomized controlled manner the accuracy of the freehand pass technique versus an easy-to-use, portable, adjustable guiding device for ventriculostomy catheter placement. Methods/Design: This is a single center, prospective, randomized trial with a blinded endpoint (ventricular catheter tip location) assessment. Adult patients with the indication for ventriculostomy, as proven by computed tomography (CT), will be randomly assigned to the treatment group or the control group. For patients in the treatment group, ventriculostomy will be performed using an adjustable guiding device and DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) image-reading software assistance (for example, using a mini-tablet) based on preoperative CT imaging. Discussion: This is the study design of a single center, prospective, randomized controlled trial to investigate whether guided ventriculostomy is superior to the standard freehand technique. One strength of this study is the prospective, randomized, interventional type of study testing a new easy-to-handle guided versus freehand ventricular catheter placement. A second strength of this study is that the power calculation is based on catheter accuracy using an available grading system for catheter tip location, and is calculated with the use of recent study results of our own population, supported by data from prominent studies. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02048553 (registered on 28 January 2014).