View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:Infection developing in the intensive care unit is a common complication of critical illness, but notoriously difficult to diagnose. A definite diagnosis based on the most reliable tests usually is not possible for at least two days. It is unclear what the optimal management approach should be while awaiting the results of diagnostic tests. In some circumstances, broad spectrum antibiotics are started with a plan to adjust them once the results of cultures are available. Observational studies show that this results in greater antibiotic use, and the risk of superinfection and resistance. In other circumstances, antibiotics may be withheld pending the results of cultures, a strategy that leads to a delay in therapy when cultures are positive, and that may be associated with a worse clinical outcome. We undertook a randomized pilot study to address the question: "In a critically ill patient for whom clinicians are uncertain whether infection may be present, and in whom potential sites of infection have been managed by removing or changing invasive devices, can a policy of delaying antibiotic treatment until cultures are available reduce the risks of excessive antibiotic use, without increasing the risks associated with delayed therapy?" Recognizing that the question has not been formally addressed before, and that approaches to clinical management are both widely divergent and passionately held, our pilot study tested the feasibility and acceptability of undertaking a larger trial with sufficient power to determine equivalence.
Intensive care patients are at high risk to develop deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Despite anticoagulation with heparin 7% of ICU patients suffer from this serious complication. Optimal regimens for prevention of VTE have been established in medical patients only and are not known for ICU patients. It was therefore the aim of this study to compare the bioavailability of a low molecular weight heparin in ICU patients and in medical patients. Furthermore, we looked wether a 50% dose increase resulted in better bioavailability of this drug.
Compare the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia with or without tracheal isotonic saline instillation before tracheal suctioning
The goal of this study is to determine whether haloperidol reduces the time on the breathing machine in critically ill patients with delirium.
This study is being done to see if Nexium I.V. can reduce and control stomach acid in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients in an Intensive Care Unit setting.
The purpose of this study is to find out whether homeopathic potassium dichromate will decrease the time on the breathing machine and the amount of phlegm that you produce in your lungs. In addition, this study will look at whether participants spend less time in a critical care unit and if the chances of being placed back on a breathing machine can be lessened.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether Rosiglitazone,decreases the ADMA concentration and thereby increases the arginine/ADMA ratio of critically ill patients.
The purpose of this study is to assess the short-term effect of sympatholysis on sleep quality and inflammation in critically ill patients.
Hypothesis: A protocolized algorithm for sedation in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation can decrease ventilator days, costs and improve outcome. This is a multicenter observational-interventional study on critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours, involving 13 ICU in Chile. There are two periods (groups): a descriptive phase of sedation practices, and an interventional period in which an analgesia-based, goal-directed, nurse-driven sedation is applied. Main outcome: ventilator-free days between both periods.
This study aims to analyse the effect of two total parenteral nutrition diets with lipid emulsions of different compositions on the incidence of nosocomial infection in critical patients. One diet will contain an MCT/LCT emulsion concentrated to 20% (50:50 ratio) and the other will comprise an MCT/LCT/fish oil emulsion (50:40:10 ratio). The secondary objective of this study is to analyse mortality in hospital and up to 6 months of discharge.