Clinical Research Directory

Predictive Value of Gastrointestinal Blood Flow for Enteral Nutrition Intolerance in Critically Ill Patients

This study aims to explore the correlation between gastrointestinal blood flow and the incidence of enteral nutrition intolerance (ENI) and its symptoms in critically ill patients, construct and compare predictive models including blood flow parameters, and evaluate their incremental predictive value.

Asia Pediatric Intensive Care Epidemiology and Outcomes Study

The overall objective of this study is to improve the standard of care of critically ill pediatric patients. The specific aims are to describe the clinical profile and outcomes of all admissions to Asian pediatric ICUs, determine the risk factors associated with poor outcomes, determine quality indicators for benchmarking ICU performance across sites and develop and train artificial intelligence algorithms to predict mortality, length of ICU stay and resource utilization.

Medical Honey for Wound Treatment in Intensive Care. (MICARéa) Randomized, Controlled, Single-center Pilot Study.

Wound management is a real public health issue in France. To date, a wide range of devices exists to treat these wounds, depending on their nature and stage of evolution. Honey has been proposed for the care of wounds and is effective in reducing the surface of wounds and the pain perceived by patients. Inanition, its use is very simple compared to usual care, requiring different types of dressing accross time. In the intensive care unit, patients are prone to suffering or developing numerous types of wound, but the interest of honey has not been investigated yet. We propose a prospective, monocentric, randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial to assess the efficacy of managing acute cutaneous wounds with honey (Activon®) compared with standard care, in intensive care patients. The primary endpoint is the percentage of wound surface area reduction measured at 15 days from inclusion.

UP STUDY - Decipher Persistent Critical Illness Through in Deep Clinical Phenotyping.

Persistent Critical Illness (PCI) is a condition that affects some patients who remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a long time, usually more than 10-14 days. It is estimated to occur in 5-20% of critically ill patients. A recent Portuguese study found that more than 14% of ICU patients stayed longer than 14 days. PCI is often associated with ongoing need for life support, such as mechanical ventilation or medications to maintain blood pressure. However, patients may also experience severe muscle weakness, repeated infections, or other complications, which makes this group very diverse. One of the main risk factors for prolonged ICU stay is sepsis, a severe infection that affects the whole body. Other factors-such as prior health conditions, use of corticosteroids, sedation practices, early versus late mobilization, fluid and antibiotic management, and delirium treatment-may also influence the development and course of PCI. This study aims to identify different clinical patterns ("clusters") among critically ill patients who remain in the ICU for more than 10 days. Patients will be followed until hospital discharge, and up to one year if data are available. Understanding these different patterns will help develop more personalized and effective care strategies for each patient profile. The study is a multicenter retrospective cohort including adult patients (≥18 years) admitted to participating ICUs for more than 5 days between 2021 and 2023. Data collected will include demographic, clinical, and laboratory information, details of organ support (such as mechanical ventilation or vasopressors), medications, nutrition, and rehabilitation practices. Statistical and machine learning methods will be used to identify groups of patients with similar clinical trajectories and to assess how these groups are related to outcomes such as survival, recovery of organ function, or long-term disability. Expected results are the identification of distinct clinical clusters of PCI that combine clinical and laboratory data, and the development of tailored management strategies to improve recovery and outcomes for patients with PCI.

Exogenous Ketone Supplementation in ICU Delirium

Delirium is a common syndrome in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Those experiencing delirium may suddenly feel confused, have trouble thinking clearly, struggle to pay attention, or see and hear things that are not real. Delirium is associated with worse long-term outcomes such as cognitive impairment, depression, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This study examines whether an investigational medical-grade ketone supplement drink (ketone monoester \[brand name: Ultrapure Ketone Monoester\]) is safe and feasible to use in ICU patients, and to look for signals that it might reduce delirium or shorten its duration compared to a volume-, taste-, and calorie-matched placebo.

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in a Patient on Invasive Mechanical Ventilation (MOVCARE)

This clinical study aims to compare the effects of conventional physical therapy alone versus conventional physical therapy combined with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in patients admitted to the ICU and undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either conventional physical therapy or the same therapy plus NMES applied to the lower limbs. The protocol includes muscle-specific stimulation parameters and safety criteria to postpone sessions in cases of clinical instability. The primary goal is to assess whether NMES improves muscle function and recovery in critically ill patients.

Exhaled Breath Condensate Analysis in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Mechanically ventilated intensive care patients will be sampled for a small amount of exhaled breath condensate from the ventilator circuit and for venous blood. Proteomic analysis of the exhaled breath condensate will be performed using mass spectrometry and in the blood sample, corresponding changes in the DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites will be studied. Resulting profiles will be correlated with routinely monitored parameters in order to identify patterns corresponding to various pathologies in order to enable their early detection.

PICU-related Sleep and Circadian Dysregulation Pilot Study

A single center pilot trial investigating the feasibility of using actigraphy and salivary melatonin levels to measure the sleep and circadian rhythm of critically ill children aged 3 to 6 years old. This study will also measure the feasibility of providing daytime light exposure as well as restricting all provided nutrition to during daytime hours.

Investigation of the Relationship Between Nutritional Status Assessment and Frailty in Critical Care Patients

This study aims to understand the effects of these two parameters on clinical outcomes by examining the relationship between NUTRIC and CONUT scores in intensive care patients. The results of the study may contribute to the development of new approaches to the treatment process of patients by better understanding the relationship between nutritional status and pre-hospital frailty in intensive care units. In addition, eliminating the deficiencies in this area will pave the way for the creation of more effective and personalized treatment plans for similar patients.

Metabolic Response to Supine Physiotherapy in Mechanically Ventilated ICU Patients

Critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation frequently experience rapid loss of muscle mass and physical function during their stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). As part of standard care, physiotherapy and limb mobilization exercises are commonly provided, even in patients who are sedated and confined to bed in a supine position. However, the actual physiological and metabolic intensity of these routine physiotherapy interventions is poorly understood, and current prescriptions are largely based on clinical judgment rather than objective measures of patient effort or tolerance. Oxygen consumption (VO₂) is a direct indicator of metabolic demand and physiological workload. In mechanically ventilated patients, indirect calorimetry integrated into the ventilator allows continuous measurement of VO₂ and carbon dioxide production without adding invasive procedures. While indirect calorimetry is routinely used to individualize nutritional support in the ICU, its potential role in quantifying the metabolic cost of physiotherapy interventions has been scarcely explored. The aim of this prospective observational study is to quantify the acute metabolic response to a standardized session of supine physiotherapy in adult critically ill patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. During routine physiotherapy sessions performed as part of usual care, oxygen consumption will be continuously measured using indirect calorimetry integrated into the ventilator circuit. Each session will include a baseline resting period, the physiotherapy intervention itself, and a post-intervention recovery period, allowing patients to act as their own controls. Physiotherapy sessions will consist of passive limb mobilization in deeply sedated patients and passive or active-assisted mobilization in patients who are awake or lightly sedated and able to cooperate. The primary outcome will be the change in oxygen consumption during physiotherapy compared with baseline rest. Secondary analyses will describe the total metabolic load of the session, peak oxygen consumption, and the time required for oxygen consumption to return toward baseline levels after the intervention. Basic cardiorespiratory variables, such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and ventilatory parameters, will also be recorded to assess physiological stability and tolerance. By objectively characterizing the metabolic cost of common supine physiotherapy interventions, this study aims to improve understanding of the physiological demands imposed on mechanically ventilated ICU patients. The results may help inform safer and more individualized physiotherapy prescriptions in critical care, supporting a more objective approach to dosing rehabilitation based on patients' real metabolic responses rather than solely on activity type or sedation level.

Proactive Prescription-based Fluid Management vs Usual Care in Critically Ill Patients on Kidney Replacement Therapy

A pilot randomized clinical trial comparing a protocol-based fluid management strategy to usual care in critically ill patients receiving kidney replacement therapy. The fluid management protocol is intended to achieve neutral or negative daily fluid balance by both preventing and treating fluid accumulation.

Virtual Reality-Based Transitional Care for ICU Survivors

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR)-based transitional care program for adult survivors of intensive care unit (ICU) care. ICU survivors frequently experience relocation stress, anxiety, pain, and physiological instability after transfer from the ICU to general wards, which may increase the risk of unplanned ICU readmission. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either standard transitional care or additional VR-based intervention sessions during their ICU stay. The VR intervention is designed to provide psychological support, environmental orientation, and stress reduction. Primary outcomes include short-term physiological indicators within 48 hours after ICU transfer. Secondary outcomes include pain, relocation stress, and unplanned ICU readmission within 7 days.

The Intensive Care Platform Trial

Among critically ill patients, many die, and many of the survivors and their family members struggle for years with reduced quality of life. Critically ill patients are treated in intensive care units (ICUs). Here, they receive life support, e.g., mechanical ventilation and advanced support of the circulation (heart and blood vessels) and kidneys. In addition, ICU patients receive many other treatments. It is, however, uncertain if all the treatments provide value for the patients. The desirable effects of many treatments are uncertain, and some may be wasteful or even harmful. Clinical trials are necessary to validly assess the desirable and undesirable effects of different treatments. However, conventional clinical trials have limitations: * They typically only assess a single question related to a single comparison of treatments at a time. * They are often not very flexible, including with regards to the number of participants needed, and this increases the risk that a trial will end up as inconclusive. * There is no or limited re-use or sharing of infrastructure across trials, leading to duplicate work and resource use. * Trial participants do usually not benefit from the obtained knowledge before the trial concludes. * Involvement of patients, family members, and other stakeholders is typically limited, which may decrease the relevance of the questions addressed. With the Intensive Care Platform Trial (INCEPT), we aim to tackle these challenges by establishing a flexible platform trial that continuously learns from the obtained results. The platform trial may run forever with simultaneous and continuous assessment of many treatments. INCEPT will continuously learn from the accrued data and use these to improve the treatment of both participating and future patients. With INCEPT, we are also building a framework for thorough and extensive involvement of key stakeholders, including patients and family members. INCEPT will improve the way clinical trials are done and increase the probabilities that treatments are improved. This will: * Directly improve outcomes for ICU patients. * Relieve a strained healthcare system by discarding inefficient or harmful treatments. * Ensure that new treatments are beneficial or cost-effective before implementation. * Lower the costs and burdens of assessing more treatments in the critically ill.

Assessing the Relationship Between Frailty and Skeletal Muscle Thickness in Critically Ill Patients

Assessment of muscle mass in critically ill patients is critical for both improving clinical outcomes and monitoring the effectiveness of nutritional interventions. Loss of muscle mass is associated with mortality and morbidity in the elderly, including organ transplantation, trauma, and sepsis. Previous studies have assessed muscle mass using computed tomography. The use of computed tomography is costly, carries radiation risks, and requires the patient to be transported to a CT scanner. In contrast, ultrasonography is a noninvasive, rapid, and bedside method without radiation exposure. In particular, anterior thigh muscle thickness (ATMT) stands out as a reliable biomarker in the assessment of muscle mass. ATMT measurement includes the assessment of the combined depth of the vastus intermedius and rectus femoris muscles in the anterior thigh. There is no study in the literature examining the effects of anterior thigh muscle thickness measured by ultrasonography on malnutrition and frailty in intensive care patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of anterior thigh muscle thickness on frailty, malnutrition and length of stay in intensive care patients.

Bringing to Light the Risk Factors And Incidence of Neuropsychological Dysfunction in ICU Survivors, 2nd Study

This BRAIN-ICU-2 study \[Bringing to light the Risk factors And Incidence of Neuropsychological dysfunction (dementia) in ICU Survivors, 2nd Study\] is in direct response to PAR-17-038 and will determine ICU patients' main paths to decline, maintenance, or recovery of brain function. We will answer gaps in knowledge about long-term outcome of post-ICU brain disease by following the remaining ICU survivors from the original BRAIN-ICU-1 study with complete cognitive testing for the first time ever to 12 years (AIM 1). We will consent and enroll 567 new ICU patients at Vanderbilt and Rush Universities (i.e., BRAIN-ICU-2 cohort) and determine how detailed neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid samples can help reveal locations and mechanisms of injury beyond what we learned from the clinical information collected in our original study (AIM 2). Importantly, we are mirroring the existing world-renowned Rush Alzheimer's Disease Research Center brain bank program so that all patients enrolled in Aims 1 and 2 will able to donate their brains to science for the first-ever in-depth pathological study of those who do and do not get post-ICU dementia to define this disease formally (AIM 3)

Clinical Effectiveness of the "PICU Up!" Multifaceted Early Mobility Intervention for Critically Ill Children

While mortality in U.S. pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) is improving, surviving children frequently develop persistent physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments. Over half of critically ill children experience potentially preventable PICU-acquired morbidities, with mechanically ventilated children being at greatest risk. In critically ill adults, randomized trials have shown that progressive mobility, started early (within 3 days of initiating mechanical ventilation), decreases muscle weakness and the duration of mechanical ventilation. However, similar randomized studies have not been conducted in the PICU. The investigator's prior studies revealed that less than 10 percent of critically ill children at the highest risk of functional decline are evaluated by a physical or occupational therapist within 3 days of PICU admission. Given the interplay of sedation, delirium, sleep, and immobility in the PICU, single-component interventions, such as sedation protocolization, have not consistently shown benefit for decreasing mechanical ventilation duration. Thus, the investigators developed the first pediatric-specific, interprofessional intervention (PICU Up!) to integrate goal-directed sedation, delirium prevention, sleep promotion, and family engagement into daily PICU care in order to facilitate early and progressive mobility. The investigators have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of this pragmatic, multifaceted strategy in both single-site and multicenter pilot studies. Hence, the next phase of the investigators research is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and delivery of the PICU Up! intervention across a range of PICU patients and health systems. The investigators propose a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster randomized controlled trial that will include 10 academic and community hospitals in the United States, with the following Aims: 1) Evaluate if the PICU Up! intervention, delivered under real-world conditions, decreases mechanical ventilation duration (primary outcome) and improves delirium and functional status compared to usual care in critically ill children; and 2) Conduct a multi-stakeholder, mixed-methods process evaluation to identify key contextual factors associated with delivery of PICU Up!. If proven effective, the PICU Up! intervention has potential to profoundly change medical care in the PICU and substantially impact public health by improving outcomes for the growing number of pediatric survivors of critical illness.

Locomotor Muscle Oxygenation and Activation During Acute Interval Compared to Constant-load Bed-cycling Exercise

Up to 60% of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a prolonged stay in the ICU develop complications such as intensive care unit acquired weakness (ICUAW) characterized by limb and respiratory muscle weakness. ICUAW is associated with worse prognosis, longer ICU stay and increased morbidity and mortality. Physical therapy (PT) interventions in the intensive care unit (ICU), can improve patients' outcomes. However, improvements in muscle function achieved with standard physical activity interventions aiming at early mobilization are highly variable due to lack of consistency in definition of the interventions, lack of consideration for the complexity of exercise dose and/or insufficient stimulation of muscles during interventions. It has been suggested that modifying early mobilization and exercise protocols towards shorter intervals consisting of higher intensity exercises might result in more optimal stimulation of muscles. In the present study the researchers therefore aim to simultaneously assess (by non-invasive technologies) locomotor muscle oxygenation and activation along with the measurements of the load imposed on respiration and circulation during two different training modalities i.e., moderate intensity continuous bed-cycling (endurance training) vs high-intensity alternated by lower intensity periods of bed-cycling (interval training).

Assessing Fluid-responsiveness Using Non-invasive Hybrid Diffuse Optics on Peripheral Muscle

Proof-of-concept observational study including ICU patients undergoing a PLR maneuver. Local microvasculature will be assessed with the hDOS platform on the brachioradialis muscle, deriving the microvascular blood flow index (BFI) and tissue oxygen saturation (StO2). CO will be assessed via an invasive hemodynamic monitor based on pulse waveform analysis through the patient's arterial line. The correlation over time between CO and microvascular parameters, and the ability of microvascular variables for predicting a positive CO response (increase \> 10%) will be assessed.

What is the Effect of Acute Kidney Injury on Weaning From Mechanical Ventilation in Critically Ill Adult Patients?

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of acute kidney injury (AKI) on the success rate, duration, and complications of weaning from mechanical ventilation in critically ill adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and to identify whether AKI is an independent predictor of difficult, failed or complicated or weaning.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Admitted to Swedish Intensive Care Units for COVID-19

This is a registry-based cohort study of all adult patients (≥18 years) admitted to Swedish Intensive Care Units with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease during the first 2 months of the 2020 pandemic. The main goal is to describe demographic characteristics, coexisting conditions, treatments and outcomes among critically ill patients with COVID-19. A secondary goal is to identify independent risk factors associated with increased mortality for these patients. Data regarding baseline characteristics including comorbidities, intensive care treatments and outcomes will be extracted. ICU lengths of stay and 30-day mortalities will be calculated. The primary outcome is 30-day all-cause mortality. THIS PART OF THE STUDY HAS BEEN COMPLETED. UPDATE 26 Feb 2022: Characteristics and outcomes of 'first wave' patients admitted to Swedish ICUs was published in Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2021 Apr 1;38(4):335-343. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000001459. A description of the surge response and aggregated data outcomes in Scandinavian countries was published in https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aas.13983. UPDATE 13 Nov 2024: ADDITIONAL SUMMARY - EXTENDED INCLUSION PERIOD AND ADDITION OF LONG-TERM OUTCOMES, AND CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS WITH INFLUENZA AND VIRAL PNEUMONITIS Due to the continued influx of patients requiring intensive care due to COVID-19, we extended the inclusion period to 31 Dec 2022. Thus this new cohort will include all patients admitted to ICUs in Sweden from 6 March 2020 to 31 Dec 2022. We will investigate short (30day mortality) and long-term outcomes (365d mortality and cardiovascular complications) of patients admitted to Swedish ICUs with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease. In international research, the long-term effects of ICU-requiring COVID-19 are now highly topical. Long-term follow-up exceeding one year has not yet been conducted on any Swedish material. To concretely understand the actual implications of long-term outcomes, it is becoming almost standard to compare this patient group to ICU-requiring influenza + viral pneumonitis patients to some extent. We have applied for and obtained ethical approval to include this group as a potential comparator to COVID-19 patients. However, such comparisons require careful consideration of potential confounders, such as patient characteristics and socioeconomic factors. It is therefore crucial to both establish the disease burden for the population and relate it to a comparable patient group. Ethical approval and national data linkage approvals have now been obtained to extract this data from Statistics Sweden and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare registries. Data linkage was completed in October 2024.

Individualized Analgesia in the Intensive Care Unit With a New Pain Assessment Bundle and Protocolized Analgesia Adjustments

Both severe pain and opioid therapy are associated with negative effects. The experience of pain is common in the intensive care unit, but it is highly individual and difficult to assess, as patients are often unable to communicate. This especially applies to patients who are mechanically ventilated. Behavioral assessment tools can help to identify pain in this population, but do not register overdose of opioid therapy. The AlgiScan® delivers the Pupillary Pain Index (PPI), an objective assessment of nociception level, which has been shown to be useful in small studies with respect to reduction of opioid dose without leading to more pain. New institutional protocols for the assessment of pain include the behavioral pain assessment tool Zurich Observational Pain Assessment (ZOPA) and the PPI. This project aims to evaluate the impact of the new institutional protocols on opioid administration and occurrence of pain compared to a historical cohort by analyzing routinely collected data during mechanical ventilation (Part A). In a second part (Part B), promising biomarkers for detection of pain, subjective ratings by nurses and physicians and an additional behavioral pain scale will be evaluated using an observational study design. After screening and enrolment (day 1/visit 1), characteristics of pain will be assessed on 4 occasions during 2 days (day 2/visit 2, day 2/visit 3, day 3/visit 4, day 3/visit 5). On visit 2 and 4, biomarkers (alpha-amylase, cortisol) will be sampled.

Treatment Strategy of Human Gamma Globulin on the Therapy for Intensively Ill Children With Inflammatory Storm

The inflammatory storm in critically ill patients releases cytokines, causing systemic immune damage, which may be an important cause of multiple organ failure and even death. Inflammatory storms exacerbate the deterioration of the disease in those children. Gamma globulin may be an effective option to control inflammatory storms. However, this preliminary result needs to be verified from reliable and representative RCTs. In our study, we conducted a retrospective study on the use of gamma globulin and an unused control group. At present, the indications of IVIG are mainly focused on the neuromuscular system and the blood system. We hope to establish a more appropriate and operable evaluation table for the suitability of gamma globulin for clinical use.

A Multi-Center Data System and Collaborative Network in China for Severe Infection and Sepsis Children

1\. To research the current situation of severe infection in children in China, and to investigate the incidence, prognosis and disease burden of severe infection in children in different regions of China. 2. Establish the risk prediction model and diagnosi model of severe infection in children, and verify the accuracy of the model in multi-center; 3. To study the effectiveness and safety of different treatments in real diagnosis and treatment, and to evaluate the efficacy of subgroups under different ages and high risk factors.

MULTIMODAL APPROACH IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF SEPTIC AKI

In recent studies, it has been reported that the renal resistance index is effective in detecting sepsis-related acute renal failure (SA-AKI) in the early period. Similarly, urinary biomarkers \[TIMP-2\]\*\[IGFBP-7\], released in response to tubular epithelial cell stress, have been reported to indicate the presence of acute renal injury (AKI) early on, before functional loss occurs (increased creatinine). This observational study aims to evaluate the renal resistance index and urinary biomarker variation in patients diagnosed with sepsis and to investigate their usefulness in the early detection of renal dysfunction that may develop after sepsis.