View clinical trials related to Acute Brain Injury.
Filter by:Acute brain injury due to aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a condition with a high mortality, and surviving patients often have permanent disabilities. Multimodal neuromonitoring of intracranial pressure, brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2), and brain energy metabolism (measured with microdialysis (MD)) may help individualise the treatment of this patient group to protect the brain and potentially improve outcomes. However, there is still a significant lack of knowledge regarding the advantages and disadvantages of this type of monitoring. The present study consists of four substudies with the overall aim of examining which factors are most influential for regulating commonly measured intracerebral parameters such as oxygenation, glucose, and lactate. Additionally, the influence of these of parameters on functional outcome and mortality will be explored. The individual studies are detailed below:
Patients who experience lung injury are often placed on a ventilator to help them heal; however, if the ventilator volume settings are too high, it can cause additional lung injury. It is proven that using lower ventilator volume settings improves outcomes. In patients with acute brain injury, it is proven that maintaining a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood improves outcomes. Mechanical ventilator settings with higher volumes and higher breathing rates are sometimes required to maintain a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide. These 2 goals of mechanical ventilation, using lower volumes to prevent additional lung injury but maintaining a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, are both important for patients with acute brain injury. The investigators have designed a computerized ventilator protocol in iCentra that matches the current standard of care for mechanical ventilation of patients with acute brain injury by targeting a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide with the lowest ventilator volume required. This is a quality improvement study with the purpose of observing and measuring the effects of implementation of a standard of care mechanical ventilation protocol for patients with acute brain injury in the iCentra electronic medical record system at Intermountain Medical Center. We hypothesize that implementation of a standardized neuro lung protective ventilation protocol will be feasible, will achieve a target normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, will decrease tidal volumes toward the target 6 mL/kg predicted body weight, and will improve outcomes.
This randomized controlled trial will enrol patients with acute severe brain injury who pass a spontaneous breathing trial but have decreased level of consciousness. It will directly compare (1) prompt extubation vs. (2) usual care, with extubation or tracheostomy timed according to physicians' discretion. The primary outcome will be ICU free days (days spent alive and outside an ICU).