Clinical Trial: BURULICO Drug Trial Study Protocol: RCT SR8/SR4+CR4, GHANA

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional




Official Title: Randomised Trial for Early Lesions Caused by M. Ulcerans - Comparison Between 8 Weeks Streptomycin and Rifampicin (SR), or 4 Weeks SR Followed by 4 Weeks R Plus Clarithromycin

Brief Summary:

The standard for treatment Buruli ulcer disease (BUD) used to be surgery but the WHO now advises streptomycin (S, 15 mg/kg daily, intramuscularly) and rifampicin (R,10 mg/kg daily) along with surgery. This preliminary advice was based on observations in 21 patients with pre-ulcerative lesions of BUD, who were given daily SR treatment for varying periods of time. In patients treated with SR for at least 4 weeks, M. ulcerans could no longer be cultured from excised lesions. SR has been introduced without a formal evaluation or comparison with other treatments have been conducted or published, but the impression is that this treatment is beneficial and may cure BUD without additional surgical management.

This study protocol evaluated the hypothesis that early, limited lesions of BUD(pre-ulcerative or ulcerated lesions, ≤ 10 cm maximum diameter), can be healed without recurrence using antimycobacterial drug therapy, without the need for debridement surgery.

In endemic regions in Ghana, patients will be actively recruited and followed if ≥ 5 years of age, and with early (i.e., onset < 6 months) BUD.

  • consent by patients and / or care givers / legal representatives
  • clinical evaluation, and by
  • analysis of three 0.3 cm punch biopsies under local anaesthesia.
  • disease confirmation: dry reagent-based polymerase chain reaction (DRB-PCR IS2404)
  • randomization: either SR for 8 weeks, or 4 weeks of SR followed by R and clarithromycin (C)
  • stratification: ulcerative or pre-ulcerative lesions.

Biopsies processed for his