View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:Acute respiratory failure is a heterogeneous disorder that results in more than 300,000 Americans requiring admission to an intensive care unit for invasive mechanical ventilatory support each year. Though acute respiratory failure is a pulmonary disorder, patients who survive their hospitalization are not limited by respiratory symptoms after discharge. Rather persistent neuromuscular weakness is the primary disorder that adversely alters their quality of life and ability to function on a daily basis. In this application we plan to conduct a randomized clinical trial called the Do It Now study (Diagnosis and Treatment of Neuromuscular Weakness) to determine the effectiveness of an intensive physical therapy program for patients recovering from acute respiratory failure. This trial will establish the efficacy of the physical therapy programs that is currently performed for patients with acute respiratory failure in a non-evidence based manner across the United States.
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.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether intravenous fluid management using lower chloride solutions (Hartmann's solutions and Plasmalyte®) will result in better outcome when compared to management using high chloride solutions (0.9% saline and Gelofusine®).
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of EMS as a preventive and therapeutic tool of CIPNM. The investigators hypothesized that EMS will prevent the development of CIPNM or have a beneficial role as a therapeutic means in case of CIPNM appearance.
In critically ill patients, a strategy aimed at an early delivery of full caloric support, with a combination of Enteral Nutrition (EN) and Parenteral Nutrition (PN) (in conditions preventing hyperglycemia and overfeeding), results in shorter ICU and hospital stay and less morbidity as compared to a strategy using only EN.
High-risk critically ill patients often require mechanical ventilation either to primarily support the respiratory function or when the ventilation is insufficient to maintain adequate gas exchanges as a result of other organ impairment. In order to tolerate this aggressive mechanical support, enhance patient synchrony with the ventilator, and relieve pain and anxiety, analgesia and sedation are provided. It is suggested that an inappropriate use of sedation and analgesia may prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation and increase the risk of specific adverse outcomes such as ventilator associated pneumonia. Despite the widespread use of sedation, little information is available concerning the effect of varying the level of sedation on patients' subsequent mental health. We designed a randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of sedation with the goal of maintaining the patient cooperative and interactive compared to the administration of sedation with the goal of maintaining the patient sedated. The first goal will be achieved by a discontinuous injection of a sedative, while the second goal will be achieved by a continuous infusion of the same sedative. In both groups pain relief will be provided in the same fashion with equal endpoints on a pain scoring scale. Our primary aim is to investigate whether differences in the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), anxiety, and depression are related to the choice of sedation-analgesia strategies. Secondary endpoints include the length of ICU stay, as indicated by the time to discharge from the ICU, the time to separation from mechanical ventilation, the rates of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary complications, and hospital length of stay. These endpoints will be compared between the two groups.
In a previous study, the investigators showed that tight blood glucose control with insulin during intensive care reduced morbidity and mortality in adult intensive care patients. Whether this intervention also improves prognosis of pediatric intensive care patients remains unknown. The current prospective, randomized, controlled study will asses the impact of intensive insulin therapy on outcome of patients in a pediatric intensive care unit. On admission patients will be randomly assigned to either strict normalization of blood glucose according age adjusted values or the conventional approach, in which insulin infusion is initiated only when blood glucose exceeds 215 mg/dl to maintain blood glucose levels between 180-200 mg/dl.
The purpose of this study is to see how fast and accurate two different techniques used by physicians to insert catheters in children are. Catheters are tiny tubes which carry fluids, blood and sometimes liquid food into a person's vein. The technique currently used relies on the physical landmarks and using fingers to feel the anatomy in which to place the catheter in the vein or artery. The investigators are changing to a technique where they will use ultrasound at the patient's bedside to help physicians with placing the catheter into the blood vessel. They are comparing the use of these two methods to determine which is faster and requires fewer needle sticks.