Purpose: This randomized, open-label trial was conducted to investigate the optimal duration of bed rest after intrathecal chemotherapy to reduce the incidence of complications without increasing patients' tolerance to long-term bed rest.
Methods: A total of 390 patients receiving intrathecal chemotherapy were randomly assigned 1:1:1 to undergo bed rest for 6, 8, or 10 h after intrathecal chemotherapy. The primary outcome was the rate of complications after intrathecal chemotherapy. The analysis was per protocol.
Results: A total of 359 patients among the 390 patients in our study completed follow-up with 120 patients in the 6-h group, 120 in the 8-h group, and 119 in the 10-h group. The complications among the three groups differed significantly (P = 0.005). The 6-h group had significantly more complications than the 8- (50, 41.7% vs 29, 24.2%, P = 0.004) and 10-h groups (50, 41.7% vs 31, 26.1%, P = 0.011), whereas the difference between the 8- and 10-h groups was not significant (29, 24.2% vs 31, 26.1%, P = 0.737).
Conclusions: The overall results support that the optimal time interval for bed rest in the supine position after intrathecal chemotherapy is 8 h. This trial is registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (number ChiCTR-IOR-17011671).
Keywords: Bed rest time; Complications after intrathecal chemotherapy; Lumbar puncture; Tolerance to long-term bed rest.