Lay summary
We aim to determine if a large study with important patient-centred outcomes comparing the "beta-blocking" drug carvedilol to inactive "placebo" in patients needing dialysis is possible.
This will be a "randomised controlled trial" with participants given either carvedilol or inactive placebo, as will occur in the larger study. What participants receive will be determined by chance. Participants will be patients requiring dialysis with risk factors for heart disease. Feasibility will be measured by the numbers of patients recruited in the time and importantly, how many stay on the drug without side effects such as low blood pressure.
Because carvedilol helped people with heart disease live longer in large studies that did not include patients undergoing dialysis, there is a strong reason to believe it helps dialysis patients. Knowledge of how many participants on dialysis can be recruited and tolerate carvedilol is essential to plan this study.