View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:This study will investigate whether early exercise in critically ill patients will decrease inflammatory markers, increase pro-inflammatory markers and prevent loss of muscle mass.
Studies have shown that more than 30% of the overall acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients develop renal dysfunction. Several studies have tried to find a correlation between hemodynamic Parameters (blood pressure , heart rate, central venous pressure CVP) and worsening of renal function in acute decompensated heart failure patients. Results showed that there were no correlation between baseline hemodynamics or change in hemodynamics and worsening of renal function. Another study showed that intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) measuring was a better corollary to renal failure status then measuring cardiovascular hemodynamics using pulmonary artery catheterization in ADHF patients.. An increased IAP was associated with worse renal function and that level of IAP far below abdominal compartment syndrome may adversely affect renal function in patients with ADHF.
The investigators hypothesize that by applying a validated algorithm to accomplish early mobilization in surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients, these patients will achieve a higher level of mobility which translates to shorter ICU length of stay and improved functional status at discharge. Additionally, the investigators hypothesize that genetic polymorphisms related to muscle strength and sleep will also explain some variance in these outcome variables.
In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved procalcitonin in conjunction with other laboratory markers to aid in the risk assessment of critically ill patients with severe infection (sepsis). Although considerable literature exists regarding the usefulness of Procalcitonin (PCT) as a marker of sepsis, there are still potential uses for PCT measurements that are not yet explored and its value among the critically ill patients remains unclear. This study seeks to better understand the usefulness of measuring PCT values in patients admitted to the Medical ICU for a variety of reasons and in particular with severe infection (sepsis).
The purpose of the study is to inform decision-makers of the best strategies to implement advanced care planning (ACP). An advanced care plan (ACP) is a verbal or written instruction describing what kind of care an individual would want (or not want)if they are no longer able speak for themselves to make health care decisions.
Citrate anticoagulation is associated with metabolic side effects which are linked to a portion of citrate reaching systemic circulation. Data on significance of systemic gain of citrate and its relationship to method configuration are missing. Patient might also receive certain dose of lactate as a buffer and a dose of glucose if acid-citrate-dextrose solution is used. The authors test variable methods of indirect estimate of systemic dose of citrate which would allow to quantify the metabolic input without mostly unavailable measurements of citrate levels.
There are 24,000 admissions each year to Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the United Kingdom due to pneumonia, asthma and a common condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with rates of death of 10%, 40% and 50%, respectively. These conditions account for 10% of all ICU admissions. It is therefore important to find out if it would be possible to detect deteriorations in patients with breathing problems early, in order to increase appropriately their level of care. Clinical early warning scores (EWS) are used in many hospitals to detect patients whose medical condition is getting worse, and who are likely to need admission to intensive care or high dependency care units. EWS are usually calculated from several measurements taken from the patient, such as blood pressure, temperature and heart rate. However, they are often inaccurate as they need to be calculated manually by nursing staff from a number of measurements taken from a variety of different devices. Furthermore, even when accurately calculated, it is not clear how helpful EWS are in predicting whether or not patients will deteriorate. Neural respiratory drive (NRD) is an objective indicator of breathlessness, and can be derived from the amount of electrical activity occurring in certain muscles used in breathing. The Myotrace system measures this electrical activity, as well as measurements such as rate of breathing and heart rate. It then analyses these measurements together to help identify patients at risk of deterioration. This study will use Myotrace to monitor patients with severe breathing difficulties due to an acute worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, for early identification of failure to respond to medical treatment. Patients will be recruited at St. Thomas' Hospital. This research is funded by the Guy's and St. Thomas' Charity.
Recent studies suggest the employment of 'conscious' sedation (1) for critically high - risk patients (2), showing more efficacy then deep sedation (3). The investigators want to compare intravenous injection versus enteral sedative drugs administration, purposing to maintain a 'conscious' sedation level compatibly with the needed cares, invasive procedures, and medical and nursing surveillance.
This study will assess enteral feeding in an obese critically ill population with a higher protein whey based peptide formula.
The rational for the study is to add a thin self-adherent dressing on critically ill patients. Evaluate if the dressing might protect the skin for further breakdown.Participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 5 days.