View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:The main objective of this proof-of-concept study is to demonstrate that the only administration of L-arginine, based on a suspected deficit monitored by nasal nitric oxide measurement, can improve immune functions in critically ill patients at high risk of nosocomial infection.
Study Design: A, multinational, double blind, placebo-controlled pilot RCT involving 80 patients in the general ICUs of 30 centres. Most patients will be recruited from within Canada; however cases will be recruited from international sites. This study will be conducted under the auspices of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG) and the International Forum for Acute Care Trialists (InFACT).
The study hypothesis is to measure how the drug doripenem is cleared from the body of critically ill trauma patients. The investigators will measure blood drug concentrations and calculate how much the drug distributes in the body and how fast it is removed from the body. There is little information on how drugs are cleared in critically ill patients and the wrong dose of a drug could make it ineffective. The investigators will use this information to predict the most reasonable dose to treat infections effectively in these patients.
The aim of the study is to determine whether the use of the CGAOtm software is associated with a decrease in 90-day mortality when compared with the use of standard care methods for glucose control with target blood glucose levels inferior to 180 mg/dl. The CGAOtm software is designed to assist physicians and nurses in achieving tight glucose control (defined by a target for blood glucose levels between 80 and 110 mg/dl) in critically ill patients.
This study will examine the effects of once and twice daily activity performed with patients who are breathing with the aid of a machine in an intensive care unit. Activity can occur in bed. Activity can include transfer to a chair and even walking once the patient's condition allows safe, out-of-bed activity. The investigators hypothesize that early, progressive activity will reduce inflammatory molecules in the blood, promote muscle and physical health and help patients to recover more quickly from critical illness.
The principal research question to be answered by this study is whether an exercise based rehabilitative intervention following critical illness can generate improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life beyond current (usual) care. The investigators will also aim to demonstrate that such an intervention is both practical and cost-effective.
The objective of this study is to determine the incidence of delirium in adults patients who are admitted at the critical care unit of a Dutch University Hospital with the mapping of relevant delirium risk factors The primary aim is to validate the investigators' developed delirium prediction model for critical care patients. A secondary aim is to find differences between delirious patients and non-delirious patients on different aspects of diagnostics, treatment and care, outcome, length of stay, and inflammation. According to Dutch law, the need to obtain informed consent was waived by the Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CMO) of Nijmegen for this observational study (2007/283).
Almost all critically ill children who are mechanically ventilated require sedation and analgesia. Providing effective sedation for children in the PICU requires careful balancing of the need for sedation with the adverse effects associated with sedative medications. Clonidine is often used as an adjunctive sedative and analgesic in children but a well designed and adequately powered randomized trial is required to test the effect of clonidine-based sedation. Because there are no large randomized trials of sedation related interventions among critically ill children there are many unknown factors. This pilot trial, focussing on feasibility outcomes will assess the feasibility of, and inform the design of, a larger randomized controlled trial which will focus on clinically important outcomes.
ICU-acquired weakness represents a common and often devastating disease process which affects greater than 50% of critically ill patients. This pathogenesis of this acquired disease is multifactorial and results in variable severity, ranging from mild, transient to severe, permanent dysfunction of peripheral nerves in additional to muscle. In affected patients, weakness may persist for months to years after the acute phase of their illness, and has been implicated as a major contributor to decreased functional status and quality of life. Muscle ultrasound has been validated for assessment of muscle size as well as diagnosis of myopathic and neuropathic changes in patients with other known neuromuscular diseases. The use of muscle ultrasound or other imaging modalities for diagnosis or monitoring of ICU-acquired weakness has not been studied, although a single study using muscle ultrasound has shown significant change in muscle size in ICU patients receiving high dose corticosteroids and a prolonged course of paralytic agents. The investigators plan to use multiple modalities to examine skeletal muscle catabolism, function, and structure in patients during critical illness and recovery. The investigators will combine physical exam, hand grip dynamometry, electrophysiologic studies, serum biomarkers, muscle biopsies, and muscle ultrasound to assess a group of critically ill patients during their hospital stay. The investigators will obtain additional data, including neuropsychiatric assessments, severity of illness scores, administration of potentially harmful medications, and pertinent daily laboratory data. This study will last approximately 12 months.
Preterm and critically ill neonates experience many painful manipulations. The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of these experiences and maternal deprivation on later pain behavior. Using Scoring systems, Prechtl general movements, skin conductance, testing flexor reflex levels with von Frey filaments and measuring salivary cortisol levels the investigators compare pain behavior of preterm (birth weight (BW) < 1500 grams), term neonates with need of ventilation (> 48 hours) with healthy neonates at the time of their first vaccination at the age of 3-4 months. The investigators are also testing flexor reflexes and skin conductance and general movements in regular intervals during the initial hospital stay. The investigators hypothesize that pain behavior is different at the age of 3-4 months in children with many early painful experiences.