CAT BITE Antibiotic Prophylaxis for the Hand/Forearm (CATBITE)

Summary

Cat bites are puncture wounds that have the potential to seed bacteria deep within the joint capsule, periosteum, and bone. The hand is the most common site of bite injuries. Pasteurella multocida is the is the most common organism isolated from the mouths of cats that can cause infections after a bite. Prophylactic antibiotics are often recommended with amoxicillin-clavulanate for 3-5 days to decrease the incidence of developing an infection. However, only one randomized controlled clinical trial consisting of 12 patients has been performed to justify this course of treatment, raising the possibility that the use of antibiotics could be reduced or even eliminated. Investigators will compare different durations of prophylactic antibiotics and a placebo control for cat bites to the hand/forearm presenting to the Emergency Department, Urgent Care, Plastic Surgery Clinic using a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Participants presenting to the University of Missouri Hospital Emergency Department, Missouri University (MU) Healthcare Urgent Care, Plastic Surgery Clinic over the next year will be offered the chance to enroll if they meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. For inclusion, participants will be \>18 years of age, have cat bites to the hand or distal to elbow, and present within 24 hours of the cat bite injury. Participants must not present with active local or systemic infections, have received antibiotics within the past 30 days, or be immunocompromised (primary and secondary immunodeficiencies). Participants will be randomized to one of three treatment arms (placebo; amoxicillin-clavulanate 1 day; amoxicillin-clavulanate 5 days). Outcomes are the development of an infection at the location of the cat bite and/or systemic infection, adverse effects of interventions, disability assessed by Quick Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) scores, and quality of life (QOL) assessed by HAND Questionnaire (HAND-Q) scores. Infection will be assessed at day 0, day 2, day 7+/-2, day 14+/-2, and day 30+/-2 by vital signs, laboratory values, physical examination and with an infrared and digital camera. All measures will be within the standard of care, apart from the infrared camera, QuickDASH, and HAND-Q scores. The anatomic locations of cat bites to the hand/forearm will be assessed for correlations with infections.

Timeline

Start

2023-09-07

Primary completion

2027-07-01

Completion

2027-08-01

Publications

• Background Hudak PL, Amadio PC, Bombardier C. Development of an upper extremity outcome measure: the DASH (disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand) [corrected]. The Upper Extremity Collaborative Group (UECG). Am J Ind Med. 1996 Jun;29(6):602-8. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199606)29:63.0.CO;2-L.
• Background Sierakowski K, Dean NR, Pusic AL, Cano SJ, Griffin PA, Bain GI, Klassen A, Lalonde D. International multiphase mixed methods study protocol to develop a cross-cultural patient-reported outcome and experience measure for hand conditions (HAND-Q). BMJ Open. 2019 Mar 20;9(3):e025822. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025822.
• Background Bregman B, Slavinski S. Using emergency department data to conduct dog and animal bite surveillance in New York City, 2003-2006. Public Health Rep. 2012 Mar-Apr;127(2):195-201. doi: 10.1177/003335491212700208.
• Background Kwo S, Agarwal JP, Meletiou S. Current treatment of cat bites to the hand and wrist. J Hand Surg Am. 2011 Jan;36(1):152-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2009.10.008. Epub 2009 Dec 14. No abstract available.
• Background Benson LS, Edwards SL, Schiff AP, Williams CS, Visotsky JL. Dog and cat bites to the hand: treatment and cost assessment. J Hand Surg Am. 2006 Mar;31(3):468-73. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2005.12.011.
• Background Kennedy SA, Stoll LE, Lauder AS. Human and other mammalian bite injuries of the hand: evaluation and management. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2015 Jan;23(1):47-57. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-23-01-47.
• Background Talan DA, Citron DM, Abrahamian FM, Moran GJ, Goldstein EJ. Bacteriologic analysis of infected dog and cat bites. Emergency Medicine Animal Bite Infection Study Group. N Engl J Med. 1999 Jan 14;340(2):85-92. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199901143400202.
• Background Medeiros I, Saconato H. Antibiotic prophylaxis for mammalian bites. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001;(2):CD001738. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001738.
• Background Lloret A, Egberink H, Addie D, Belak S, Boucraut-Baralon C, Frymus T, Gruffydd-Jones T, Hartmann K, Hosie MJ, Lutz H, Marsilio F, Mostl K, Pennisi MG, Radford AD, Thiry E, Truyen U, Horzinek MC. Pasteurella multocida infection in cats: ABCD guidelines on prevention and management. J Feline Med Surg. 2013 Jul;15(7):570-2. doi: 10.1177/1098612X13489215.
• Background Stevens DL, Bisno AL, Chambers HF, Everett ED, Dellinger P, Goldstein EJ, Gorbach SL, Hirschmann JV, Kaplan EL, Montoya JG, Wade JC; Infectious Diseases Society of America. Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of skin and soft-tissue infections. Clin Infect Dis. 2005 Nov 15;41(10):1373-406. doi: 10.1086/497143. Epub 2005 Oct 14. No abstract available.
• Background Coburn B, Toye B, Rawte P, Jamieson FB, Farrell DJ, Patel SN. Antimicrobial susceptibilities of clinical isolates of HACEK organisms. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2013 Apr;57(4):1989-91. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00111-13. Epub 2013 Feb 12.
• Background Beasley H, Borgmann AR, McDonald TO, Belluscio PR. Carbachol in cataract surgery. Arch Ophthalmol. 1968 Jul;80(1):39-41. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1968.00980050041006. No abstract available.
• Background Elenbaas RM, McNabney WK, Robinson WA. Evaluation of prophylactic oxacillin in cat bite wounds. Ann Emerg Med. 1984 Mar;13(3):155-7. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(84)80604-6.

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