Congratulations to the NICRN CC Team in Belfast! 2nd highest recruiters in the UK to the SOS trial!

March 28, 2025

Well done to the NICRN Critical Care Team in Belfast HSCT, who have recruited 46 patients to the SOS (Sugar or Salt) trial, becoming the second highest recruiting centre in the UK.

Doctors need to know the best treatments for severe brain swelling after head injuries in order to improve outcomes for patients. The two main drugs that are currently used to treat brain swelling are hypertonic saline (a strong salt solution) and mannitol (a sugary solution). Currently, it is not known which drug is the most effective treatment for brain swelling. The study aims to look at adult patients who are admitted to the ICU with a traumatic brain injury and raised intracranial pressure. Patients are randomised, half the patients will receive hypertonic saline and half will receive mannitol. The study will compare how effective the different drugs are at reducing the pressure on the brain. It will also assess which is better at helping the patient to recover.

The SOS trial is open in over 22 centres throughout the UK and is a challenging trial to deliver – patients with traumatic brain injury arrive at all times of day or night and need to be treated as an emergency when intracranial (brain) pressure rises, so this is hard work.  We would like to thank the team for all their hard work and progress in the trial.