View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:Septic shock is a condition that is marked by severe infection causing hypotension requiring vasopressors to maintain adequate perfusion to vital organs. The Surviving Sepsis campaign, an international organization formed for the purpose of guiding the management of sepsis and septic shock, currently recommends norepinephrine as the first-choice vasopressor for septic shock. Phenylephrine, a vasopressor FDA-approved for use in septic shock, is recommended as an alternative vasopressor when septic shock is complicated by tachyarrhythmia to mitigate cardiac complications. This recommendation is based solely on experience with no scientific evidence to support this recommendation. The investigators will conduct an open-label randomized controlled trial (RCT) directly comparing phenylephrine and norepinephrine, two FDA-approved vasopressors that are both used in clinical practice for the management of septic shock. The investigators will perform this study with a population of patients that have septic shock to complete the following aims: Aim 1: Determine the incidence of tachyarrhythmias. Aim 2: Determine which vasopressor, phenylephrine or norepinephrine, is associated with a lower heart rate. Aim 3: Determine which vasopressor, phenylephrine or norepinephrine, is associated with a higher incidence of new tachyarrhythmias. Aim 4: Determine which vasopressor, phenylephrine or norepinephrine, is associated with less time in tachyarrhythmia. Aim 5: Determine which vasopressor, phenylephrine or norepinephrine, is associated with fewer complications, including cardiac complications. The investigators hypothesize that in this setting, phenylephrine will improve the management of septic shock when used as a "first choice" vasopressor by: 1. Decreasing the mean heart rate 2. Decreasing the incidence of new tachyarrhythmias 3. Decreasing the amount of time spent in tachyarrhythmia for patients who develop new onset and recurrent tachyarrhythmias 4. Decreasing the number of cardiac complications
The purpose of this study is to determine wether the combined measurement of the soluble form of TREM-1, PCT and the determination of neutrophils CD64 expression could diagnose sepsis in critically ill patients.
Rationale: A higher citrate dose during continuous venovenous hemofiltration provides better anticoagulation but possibly a higher risk of citrate accumulation in case of metabolic limitations. A higher citrate dose also increases magnesium loss in ultrafiltrate, while a negative magnesium balance is unwanted. Objective: Aim of this study is to determine the magnesium balance of citrate-based continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) and to determine whether and to which extent the magnesium balance depends on citrate dose. Study design and methods: A prospective randomized study conducted in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), treated with CVVH, with either low dose citrate (2.5 mmol/L blood flow in the filter) or high dose citrate (4.5 mmol/L blood flow in the filter) as anti-coagulant, targeting a postfilter ionized Calcium (iCa) of resp. 1.3-1.6 mg/dL (0.325-0.4 mmol/L) and 0.8-1.1 mg/dL (0.2-0.275 mmol/L). Post-filter blood as well as effluent aliquots and bloodconcentrations in the patient are tested for the following variables: (0 , 2 , 4, 6, 12 and 24 hrs): Total Magnesium (tMg) and total Calcium (tCa), ionized Ca (iCa)(bloodgas analyzer). In addition, hematocrit, albumin, total protein, ureum and creatinine and parathormone (PTH) are determined in arterial blood at 0 and 24 hrs or at the time of protocol exit and citrate concentrations in postfilter and arterial blood at 1 and 24 hrs or at protocol exit. Sample sites: arterial line, postfilter port (after postdilution and calcium compensation), effluent sample. All flow rates to be noted. Study population: Twenty patients admitted to intensive care, requiring continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) for AKI. Intervention: Anti-coagulation with either low dose citraat (2.5 mmol/L blood flow) or high dose citraat (4.5 mmol/L blood flow) targeting postfilter iCa of resp. 1.3-1.6 and 0.8-1.1 mg/dL. Both regimens are within standard protocolled CVVH treatment in the intensive care department.
The purpose of this study is to collect samples of blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord), wound tissue and/or wound fluids, and other body fluids and tissues from people who have been seriously injured or ill. The samples will be used to develop and assess tests and/or tools that doctors can use to decide the best treatment plan for seriously injured or ill military personnel and for civilians. Additonal protocols to use the samples will be submitted as separate protocols.
ARDS is a severe disease, it's important to predict the incidence of ARDS.
Microaspiration of contaminated oropharyngeal secretions and gastric contents frequently occurs in intubated critically ill patients, and plays a major role in the pathogenesis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Quantitative pepsin measurement in tracheal aspirates would be useful in diagnosing microaspiration of gastric contents in intubated critically ill patients. Technetium 99m labelled enteral feeding is the gold standard for the diagnosis of microaspiration. The investigators hypothesized that tracheal pepsin measurement is a good diagnosis marker of microaspiration compared to the gold standard.
Many serious illnesses are characterised by a lack of oxygen delivery to the body's tissues. This can be due to problems with the circulation, such as when the heart fails to pump blood efficiently or if the blood pressure is very low, or due to changes in the lungs preventing them from transferring oxygen effectively from the air into the blood. Many of the treatments used in critically ill patients are aimed at improving the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the tissues. These include drugs to increase the blood pressure or make the heart pump more forcibly, blood transfusions to increase the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry, and ventilators (breathing machines) to help the lungs introduce more oxygen into the bloodstream. Decisions to use such treatments are based on a number of factors. One of the most important is an assessment of how much oxygen an individual patient is using at a given time. Whilst it is possible to measure average oxygen consumption over a long period of time in healthy individuals, the equipment and techniques needed are simply not practical for routine use in the clinical setting of a critical care unit. Critical care doctors and nurses therefore have to rely on a number of different indicators of the adequacy of the amount of oxygen that is being provided in order to make decisions about how best to treat patients. Unfortunately, all of these have their limitations, are affected by other treatments patients may be receiving, and can be difficult to interpret. Examples include 'mixed venous oxygen saturation' (SvO2), that is the amount of oxygen in the blood coming back to the lungs from the body, ready to have more oxygen added, and blood lactate levels, which give an indication of whether the tissues have enough oxygen to produce the energy they need to function in an efficient manner. Our group has developed a device which can be added easily to the normal equipment used on a critical care ward when a patient is on a ventilator, which can accurately and rapidly measure the amount of oxygen the individual is consuming. This study will provide us with data so the investigators can define a "normal" range of oxygen consumption in these patients, and treatments which alter consumption. In a future study, once the investigators know what the normal range is, they can introduce new techniques to improve oxygen consumption in those patients whose consumption is less than ideal.
Lower lobe atelectasis of the lung is common in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and has the potential to adversely impact lung compliance and intra-pulmonary shunt. The cephalic shift of the diaphragm and dorsal atelectasis associated with the commonly used supine position might also contribute to this shunt. Reports indicate that obese patients may be more likely to develop dorsal atelectasis than non-obese patients. The investigators hypothesized that opening the body position angle at the waist from a typical head of bed at 30 degrees to one similar to a more upright reverse trendelenburg position, would alter the position of the diaphragm downward, allowing for improved aeration of lung bases. Thus, the investigators examined the upright body positioning in mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS primarily by evaluating for effects on oxyhemoglobin saturation (O2sat), Tidal Volume (TV) and Respiratory Rate (RR).
The investigators hypothesized that the use of biomarkers of invasive fungal infections would increase the percentage of early discontinuation of empirical antifungal therapy and thus reduce the duration of treatment in ICU patients.
The purpose of this study, in mechanically ventilated septic shock patients, is to determine whether a fluid loading strategy based on parameters derived from the transpulmonary thermodilution technique may lead to more ventilator free days compared to a fluid loading strategy based on the surviving sepsis guidelines.