DREAMS (Dexamethasone Reduces Emesis After Major Gastrointestinal Surgery) is a double-blind, phase IV, multi-centre randomised controlled trial designed to determine if pre-operative dexamethasone reduces post-operative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing elective colorectal resections.
The DREAMS study is the first trial of an investigational medicinal product (CTIMP) to be developed by the West Midlands Research Collaborative.
DREAMS has now completed recruitment across 48 UK sites with the total number of patients being 1350 at the end of January this year. We ended recruitment 6 months ahead of target even with the increase from the original target of 950 patients. The trial has been funded by a grant from the Bowel Disease Research Foundation (BDRF), and also from the Research for Patient Benefit Programme (RfPB). We are currently analysing the data ready for publication.