View clinical trials related to Critical Illness.
Filter by:Fever is part of the body's immune response, often triggered by infection. Fever is commonly treated with medicines such as paracetamol, mainly because people feel unwell with fever. However fever does have a role in fighting infection: it enables the rest of the immune system to function more efficiently, and may directly stop bacteria and viruses from multiplying. In most cases however treating fever does not matter because the rest of the immune system can cope well enough to fight the infection (with or without additional treatment, like antibiotics). In critically ill patients however any advantage in the fight against infection may be crucial. In a large observational study of adult patients in the intensive care unit, patients who developed an early fever with temperature between 38.5-39.5 degrees C fared relatively better than patients who were colder. So it is possible that in critical illness fever may be beneficial. However in critical illness the body does have limited energy resources. In order to raise the body temperature energy is required. However the investigators do not know how much energy is required to generate a fever in critically ill children. This study will aim to try and measure the energy required to generate a fever in a critically ill child. The investigators will measure energy expenditure directly in children admitted to the intensive care unit by measuring the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide they breathe in and out (a method called indirect calorimetry). This will enable the investigators to judge whether the benefits of a fever can be justified by the energy costs in the energy depleted state that is critical illness.
Over the past decade, technical advances have improved the efficiency of continuous EEG recording and remote review, leading to a steep increase in the number of continuous EEGs performed, and to an emerging change in what is considered the standard of care with regards to brain monitoring. Critically ill patients are at high risk for CNS insults, which can result in permanent neurologic disability if untreated. Non-convulsive status epilepticus and other secondary brain injuries are often unrecognized without continuous EEG monitoring. There is increasing evidence that continuous EEG monitoring facilitates early identification and management of changes in brain function, and a recent consensus statement concludes that "each center should provide critical care continuous EEG at the highest level that local resources allow". Neonatal neuro-intensive care is a rapidly developing field with a focus on monitoring of the developing brain. Without continuous EEG monitoring, neonates with paroxysmal events that are suspicious for seizures are treated with phenobarbital, often for many months, with inherent risks of side effects. Because paroxysmal events in neonates may or may not represent seizures, and electrographic seizures may have no discernable clinical correlate, this approach fails to adequately diagnose seizures and exposes neonates to possible harm, either by medication overuse for paroxysmal events that have no electrographic correlate, or by under-treatment of seizures without clinical manifestations. Amplitude-integrated EEG technology is now increasingly used as a simplified monitoring method, using fewer numbers of electrodes and usually being interpreted by a neonatologist or trainee. This model has been implemented at the investigators NICU. However, a recent systematic review came to the conclusion that amplitude-integrated EEG has relatively low and variable sensitivity and specificity, and therefore should not be the mainstay for diagnosis and management of neonatal seizures. Continuous video EEG monitoring is recommended as the gold standard for critically ill neonates, but is a very expensive and resource-intense method. An approach combining both techniques in a standardized algorithm may provide improved patient care in a resource-restricted environment. The investigators are planning to test this hypothesis in a pilot project.
This study aims to examine the use of protocol directed sedation using the Duke PAD protocol with the current sedation medications of propofol or dexmedetomidine compared to the PAD protocol with midazolam, per cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) usual care, as an initial step toward understanding the best management of sedation in these patients.
The purpose of the research study is to determine whether a single high dose of vitamin D is helpful in reducing critical illness related complications in intensive care patients who are having sever vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is quite common in critically ill patients ranging from 81.5% to 99%. A number of scientific studies have documented a strong correlation between low levels of vit.D and increased rate of adverse outcomes including infection, acute kidney injury and mortality in ICU patients. A recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) has demonstrated a 50% reduction in hospital mortality in severe vit.D deficient patients following a single high dose of cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3). However, the role of Vit.D supplementation to boost up host immune system and eventually reduction of mortality has yet to be determined by large randomized controlled trials in humans. Hence the study aims to run a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in order to study the role of Vitamin D in critically ill patients.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common disorder and associated with high morbidity and mortality. However, distinguishing transient AKI from persistent AKI may help in individualizing treatment and limit short and long term consequences of AKI. Previous studies suggested usual urinary indices to perform poorly for separating transient from persistent AKI in an unselected population of critically ill patients. The recent KDIGO (Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes) guidelines underlined the need for additional strategies in estimating renal short term prognosis. Recently, a Furosemide stress test (FST) was validated in a cohort of unselected critically ill patients. This stress test performance was found to be good in predicting capacity to identify those patients that will progress to advanced stage AKI. Additionally, FST performance was higher than those of usual renal biomarker. The limited sample size of this preliminary study however precluded adjustment for usual confounders including oliguria. The primary objective of this study is to assess diagnostic performance of FST in differentiating transient and persistent AKI. Secondary objectives are to assess diagnostic performance of FST in predicting need for renal replacement therapy, and to confirm FST results after adjustment for confounders.
Objectives: Specific Aim 1: To demonstrate the feasibility of using a Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) based Brain Computer Interface (BCI) device to facilitate communication of common patient needs in alert mechanically ventilated patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Specific Aim 2: To determine patient, family and bedside nurse satisfaction with communication using the BCI device and elicit open-ended feedback to guide future device improvements Design: Translational pilot study of a Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) based BCI system to facilitate communication in intubated patients, with sequential use of the BCI device and a picture board. Selection of the primary self-identified primary patient need on the BCI device will be compared to the icon selected on the picture board (reference standard). A patient satisfaction survey will then be provided to the patient or a family member following use for 2 hours a day for 3 consecutive days. Primary outcome: Accurate selection of the illustrative icon on the brain computer interface representing the physical or emotional need self-identified by the patient as being the most common trigger for communication with the bedside nurse during their admission. Secondary outcome: Selection by patients or family of "agree" or "strongly agree" with the statement "The Brain computer interface device allowed me to communicate my needs to the bedside nurse adequately". Intervention: Use of the brain computer device in the ICU for communication for 2 hours a day for 3 consecutive days Control/ Comparator: Sequential use of a communication picture board for 2 hours a day for 3 consecutive days, on the same days that the BCI device is used Sample Size: 30 mechanically ventilated but alert patients in the Intensive Care Unit
The aim of this study is to adapt and validate to the Spanish the European Quality Questionnaire (EuroQ2) to evaluate families' experiences of quality of care for critically ill and dying patients in the ICU.
The purpose of this study is to collect physiologic data from patients with severe brain injury who require mechanical ventilation in order to describe the impact of ventilation, specifically positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP), on intracranial pressure (ICP).
The goal is to capture the Quality of life and survival of patients one year after the stay at ICU. Data will be collected during the stay in the ICU and evaluated. One year after the ICU stay patients will be send a Quality of Life questionnaire they need to fill out and return. All data will be evaluated together.
Malnutrition is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality of patients managed in intensive care unit. Early recognition and treatment of adult malnutrition are recommended in acute care settings especially for patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Biochemical indicators like serum concentrations of albumin and prealbumin (transthyretin) have a tradition of being used as markers of nutritional status but remains influenced by nonnutritional factors. A recent assessment of quadriceps muscle diameter with ultrasound method has gained interest for screening and follow-up of muscle weakness at the bedside in critically ill patients. In this light, the MALICUS project aims to investigate the validity of ultrasound as measurement tool for assessing malnutrition acquired in intensive care unit. Skeletal muscle is central to cytokine regulation and it contributes 85% of total body glucose clearance. Some research findings suggest that muscle wasting is a smoldering inflammatory state partially driven by cytokines and oxidative stress but these conclusions need to be investigated in context of critically ill patients and perioperative settings. The investigators search to determine impact of inflammatory biomarkers (IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α) and oxidative stress (evaluated by quantifying the global anti-oxidative defenses in patient with an original method (Patrol® test) based on the use of excited molecular oxygen (singlet oxygen) as a source of ROS on erosion of lean body mass measure with quadriceps muscle ultrasound. Consequently, in an ancillary study of the MALICUS project, the investigators wish to investigate interaction between acute inflammation and muscle wasting.