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Blister Eradication Looking at Impact of Experimental Versus Established Regimens
Trial ID: NCT03835806
Purpose
The specific aim of this study is to evaluate whether RockTape has similar efficacy to
Elastikon in the treatment of foot blisters in ultramarathon runners. Elastikon with paper
tape and spray adhesive is a well-accepted means of blister treatment and has been used by
medical staff at over 50 multi-stage ultramarathons around the world. RockTape is another
commercially available product that has also been used by runners successfully to treat foot
blisters. RockTape's adhesive qualities have a potential advantage over Elastikon, in that it
does not require an additional adhesive substituting a level of complexity, weight, and cost
for foot care. There have been no studies examining the efficacy of either agent for blister
treatment.
This randomized controlled trial will compare the traditional method of treating blisters
with a multi-step approach of percutaneous drainage, paper tape, spray adhesive and then
Elastikon to percutaneous drainage, paper tape and RockTape.
Official Title
Blister Eradication Looking at Impact of Experimental Versus Established Regimens
Stanford Investigator(s)
Patrick B Burns
Clinical Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- The study enrollment period will run for approximately 7 days over 3 weeks throughout
2019 at Racing the Planet races in Namibia, Mongolia and Chile. All racers are
potential subjects.
Subjects will be enrolled when they present to the medical tent for the treatment of their
first painful blister. The subject will be evaluated for exclusion criteria and the subject
will be asked to select the most painful blister to be included in the study. All other
blisters may be treated through traditional means and are not included in the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Blister exclusion criteria:
1. Toe blisters will be excluded because they are treated with paper tape only to
avoid friction against neighboring toes and further blister formation.
2. Only intact blisters are included in this study as de-roofed blisters are treated
differently.
3. Hemorrhagic blisters are excluded as they are often not amenable to percutaneous
drainage given the increased risk in infection.
If the most painful blister is a toe blister or a hemorrhagic blister, then the second most
painful blister will be selected. If there is no second blister, the subject cannot be
enrolled at this time.
Intervention(s):
other: Elastikon
other: Rocktape
Contact Information
Stanford University
School of Medicine
300 Pasteur Drive
Stanford,
CA
94305
Patrick B Burns, MD
9788663533