View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effects of a personalized oral diet in the critically ill patients during ICU stay and after as compared usual oral diet.
The global burden of sepsis is substantial with an estimated 15 to 19 million cases per year; the vast majority of these cases occur in low income countries. New therapeutic approaches to sepsis are desperately required; considering the global burden of sepsis these interventions should be effective, cheap, safe and readily available. The aim is to study the synergistic effect of vitamin C, hydrocortisone and thiamine on survival in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
Objective: We investigated the outcomes of a nurse-led family intervention, Health Promoting Conversations, which focused on family functioning and wellbeing in families with a critically ill member. Study design: This randomized controlled pilot study used a pre-test, post-test design with intervention and control groups to investigate the outcomes of the nurse-led intervention in 17 families. Outcome measures: The Health Promoting Conversations intervention was evaluated using validated instruments that measure family functioning and family wellbeing: the General Functioning sub-scale from the McMaster Family Assessment Device; the Family Sense of Coherence, the Herth Hope Index, and the Medical Outcome Short-Form Health Survey. Descriptive and analytical statistical methods were used to analyse the data.
Aim of this study is (1) to test and further develop a new non-invasive ultrasound method, and (2) to gain new insight into microcirculatory alterations during critical disease, particularly in critical septic shock patients. Although early identification and treatment of sepsis have had top priority among the working tasks of the international 'Surviving Sepsis Campaign' society (collaboration of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine) for several years, which have led to improved survival over the last two decades, there is no objective validated diagnostic test to identify or to support the clinical diagnosis at an early stage. Analogous, there is no validated monitoring system available to guide and evaluate the effects of stabilizing measurements in sepsis, or other critical disease, at the microcirculatory level. And thus, there is an enormous knowledge gap regarding dynamic changes at the microcirculatory level during sepsis and other critical disease. Goal with this study is to investigate the robustness of this new US-technology, regarding its ability to identify and monitor critical microcirculatory impairment during critical disease. The investigators believe this technology may improve early diagnosis and thus early initiation of adequate treatment in septic shock. Its mobile and non-invasive qualities, as in most ultrasound methods, substantiate its availability to a wide range of clinical settings.
Excessive alcohol consumption is common in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Among patients who survive an ICU admission, excessive alcohol consumption is associated with a higher risk of being admitted the hospital. In this study, the Investigators will compare an intervention designed to address excessive drinking in ICU survivors to usual care. This intervention combines motivational interviewing (MI) and shared decision making (SDM). MI and SDM share several core components including the development of a therapeutic alliance and promotion of autonomy. MI can be employed in the context of motivating a patient to change their drinking. Once this decision has been made, SDM can be employed to help a patient decide amongst multiple reasonable treatment options. The Investigators long-term goal is to test whether MI-SDM is better than usual care and whether multiple sessions of MI-SDM are better than a single session. This pilot clinical trial will demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a larger efficacy study to test these hypotheses.
Patients non-electively admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) will be screened for eligibility. The investigators will include adult patients with risk level alcohol use, defined by AUDIT-C score (>5 for females, >6 for males). Informed consent will be obtained from the patient in the end or shortly after the ICU treatment, when they have regained sufficient cognitive function. 600 patients will be randomized to receive either routine treatment or a brief intervention (BI). The BI includes a 20 minute discussion with pre-educated study personnel, option to discussion with a social worker and written material. Primary outcome measure is the amount of alcohol used during the preceding week (g/week), at 6 and 12 months after study entry. The information will be obtained 1)in an interview by a study team member blinded for the intervention arm at 6 months 2) A letter of a telephone interview at 12 months. AUDIT score, EQ-5D and mortality will also be recorded. An interim analysis by an external reviewer will be performed after the primary outcome has been recorded for 200 patients,
Investigators hypothesized that a relative low SpO2 directed oxygen therapy would reduced the mortality in patients staying longer than 72 hours in ICUs.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of dextrose administration in severely sick children admitted to hospital with low-glycaemia. The problem: Mortality in children remains high in sub-Saharan African hospitals. While antimalarial drugs, antibiotics and other definitive treatments are well understood, the role of emergency care with supportive therapies such as maintaining normal glucose and electrolyte balances, has been given limited attention. Hypoglycaemia is common in children admitted to hospital in low-income settings. The current definition of hypoglycaemia is a blood glucose level of less than 2.5mmol/l. Outcomes for these children are poor, with a mortality rate of up to 42%. An increased mortality has also been reported among acutely ill children with low-glycaemia, defined as a blood glucose level of 2.5-5.0mmol/l. The reason for increased mortality rates is not fully understood. Study objective: To determine the impact on mortality of a raised treatment cut-off level for paediatric hypoglycaemia, from 2.5mmol/l to 5.0mmol/l. Methodology: Severely ill children admitted to two central Malawian hospitals; Queen Elisabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre and Zomba Central Hospital, with low-glycaemia (2.5-5.0mmol/l) will be randomised into intervention or control groups. The intervention group will be treated with an intravenous bolus of 10% dextrose 5ml/kg followed by a dextrose infusion in addition to standard care while the control group will receive standard care only. Children will be followed until discharge from hospital or death. Primary end-point is in-hospital mortality.
Dosing of nutrition in PICUs is mainly based on patient weight and assumptions on clinical status. There is however poor correlation between these calculations and actual energy consumption measured with indirect calorimetry (IC). Available equipment for IC has however been too cumbersome to use in daily clinical practice. Of relative new date is IC integrated in modern ventilators. This functionality is easy to use, but we do not know if the results are reliable for children. This study is a method comparison study comparing measurements done with SensorMedics Vmax ("gold standard") vs GE Carescape (modern ventilator with Integrated IC) in children undergoing intensive care treatment.
Binary randomized peep level of Helmet CPAP (1-0). The first patient enrolled will be assign to treatment 1 (10 cmH2O peep level), independently from its BSS. The following patients enrolled will be assign to treatment 0 (5 cmH2O peep level), and consecutively up to 25 patients at least. - 10 cmH2O peep, 50 L/min gas flow, fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) 0.5 on PICU admission (random 1) - 5 cmH2O peep, 50 L/min gas flow, FiO2 0.5 on PICU admission (random 0) If clinical and respiratory worsening, reduction of pH or partial oxygen arterial pressure (PaO2)/FiO2 occurs in the following first hour after Helmet CPAP treatment start, patients enrolled will receive endotracheal intubation, full face mask non invasive ventilation or higher peep level treatment (7.5-10 cmH2O) according to clinical evaluation, if necessary. In investigator's experience, early worsening of severe bronchiolitis in PICU in the first hour of Helmet CPAP treatment with 10 cmH2O peep level leads to endotracheal intubation.