Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness (ICUAW) Clinical Trial
Official title:
Functional Electrical Stimulation Assisted Cycling (eStimCycle):A Novel Intervention to Improve Outcomes in the Critically Ill
Project Summary: Patients who have a length of stay four or more days in ICU and requiring
mechanical ventilation assistance to breathe for more than 48 hours will be invited to
participate. Participants will be randomised to either receive Functional Electrical
Stimulation (eStimCycle) assisted cycling or standard care. As cycling in bed has previously
been shown to improve physical function, patients who receive cycling as a treatment will
have one leg that cycles and the other leg that cycles with assistance of electrical
stimulation as we want to establish the effectiveness of the addition of electrical
stimulation of muscle. Muscle bulk, strength and physical function outcome measures will be
measured at baseline, weekly in ICU, ICU discharge and hospital discharge. Cognitive function
will also be measured at hospital discharge, 6- and 12-month follow-up. A small group of
patients in this study will be invited to provide samples of blood, urine and muscle at ICU
admission and discharge to try and determine what happens to muscle in patients who are
critically ill.
Significance of the Project: This is an important study because the development of
ICU-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) can result in long term limitations in physical function.
Early treatment to maintain strong muscles during an intensive care stay may help speed up
recovery and enhance participation in other rehabilitation treatments and improve functional
activities and cognition. These are important objectives for both patients and their
families. In addition understanding why the muscles become so weak so quickly in patients in
ICU will help to develop treatments that may help to maintain muscle strength.
Study Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: eStimCycle versus usual care rehabilitation will improve muscle strength at
hospital discharge.
Hypothesis 2: eStimCycle versus usual care rehabilitation will improve cognitive function at
6 month follow up.
Hypothesis 3: Patients receiving eStimCycle will have improved activity of anabolic
signalling pathways and less atrophy of skeletal muscle fibre size compared with usual care
rehabilitation.
n/a