Clinical Research Directory

Induction Agent Choice With Early Mortality and Prognostic Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients

The aim of this retrospective cohort study is to compare the safety and efficacy of induction agents for tracheal intubation in critically ill adult patients.

Feasibility of End-tidal Oxygen Concentration Monitoring During Preoxygenation for Intubation in the Intensive Care Unit.

Intubation is a common procedure in the intensive care unit. Hypoxemia is the most frequent complication of this procedure. Monitoring the end-tidal of oxygen is recommended in operating room (OR). End-tidal of oxygen (EtO2) \>90% is an indication of a correct preoxygenation. This monitoring is not used in routine in intensive care unit (ICU). There is no recommendation on the monitoring of end-tidal of oxygen in intensive care unit. In practice, clinicians use pulsed oxygen saturation (SpO2) to determine whether the patient is sufficiently preoxygenated. However, this parameter is not a good indicator of a correct preoxygenation. In the OR, patients are compliant during the preoxygenation period and the measure of EtO2 with the face mask monitor is considered reliable because i) mask leakage is minimal and ii) the patient can breathe slowly and regularly. Theses conditions are not available in critical ill patients requiring emergency intubation. EtO2 measured on the facemask may not reflect true EtO2. This concern about the reliability of EtO2 measurement via the facemask justifies that we conduct a study to compare EtO2 measured on a facemask (facemask EtO2) to EtO2 measured in pharynx (via e nasopharyngeal catheter). The aim of this study is to determine whether the measurement of EtO2 on facemask is reliable in patients in ICU.

Analgesia Nociception Index to Explore Autonomic Nervous System in Patients With Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy

The Analgesia Nociception Index (ANI) reflects the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic tone. It is based on a specific interpretation of the R-R interval variation. During fluid removal by net ultrafiltration in patients with fluid overload and continuous renal replacement therapy, some data suggest that haemodynamic variation could be induced by the autonomic nervous system. The study aims to investigate ANI variations in this context and their association with the haemodynamic variations observed.

Fluid Balance in Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients

This prospective observational cohort study evaluates if fluid balance in the first 48 hours of ICU admission is linked to acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill adults. Patients without AKI at entry will have fluids tracked hourly via charts, weights, and labs to assess AKI risk by KDIGO criteria within 7 days. Findings may guide better fluid management to lower AKI rates.

Transducer Levelling Errors in Everyday ICU Practice - A Multicentre Blinded Observational Study

Invasive pressure monitoring (arterial blood pressure via arterial catheter and central venous pressure via central venous catheter) is fundamental to clinical decision-making in intensive care. Treatment with vasopressors, fluids, and nursing interventions depends on accurate measurements. Because pressure transducers are hydrostatic, even small levelling errors can produce clinically relevant deviations (approximately 1 mmHg per 1.3 cm of vertical misplacement). Such errors may contribute to inappropriate therapy, for example under-recognition of hypotension, unnecessary vasopressor escalation, or missed venous congestion. This prospective, multicenter, blinded observational study will quantify transducer levelling deviations during routine ICU care and evaluate whether clinically relevant deviations are associated with treatment decisions. Adult mechanically ventilated ICU patients with an arterial catheter, a central venous catheter, and ongoing vasopressor therapy will be included at hospitals in Västra Götalandsregionen, Sweden. Two blinded reference lines/sensors will be placed at predefined physiological zero levels for MAP and CVP and connected in parallel to the patient monitoring system. Continuous deviation (mmHg) between the clinical transducer position and the blinded reference level will be recorded for 8 hours while clinical staff remain unaware of the reference setup. MAP/CVP-related treatment decisions (e.g., vasopressor adjustments, fluid therapy, and nursing interventions) will be recorded with timestamps. The study will provide real-world data on the magnitude and frequency of invasive pressure transducer misalignment in daily ICU practice and its potential relationship to patient management.

Factor Associated With Mortality in the ICU

ICU mortality indicates the severity of disease, healthcare quality, and the efficacy of interventions. The severity scores are tools to predict the risk of mortality in the ICU, and the APACHE II score is frequently used for this purpose. However, studies validating the score in Colombia are limited. There is uncertainty about the precision and discrimination capacity of the APACHE II score in a population that varies from the original, with varying diseases, and in a different timeline. The investigators determined to evaluate: 1. Evaluate the rate of mortality in the ICU by type of disease and type of admission. 2. The factors associated with mortality. 3. Validate the performance of the APACHE II score as a predictor of mortality.

Opportunistic PK/PD Trial in Critically Ill Children (OPTIC)

OPTIC is a prospective, open-label, non-randomized study of multiple medications administered to approximately 2000 children in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU) per routine clinical car by their treating provider. The purpose of this study is to characterize the PK of drugs routinely administered to children per standard of care using opportunistic and scavenged samples. The prescribing of drugs to children will not be part of this protocol. After the child/adult (\<21 years of age) is consented/enrolled, demographic and clinical data will be extracted from the EHR. Biospecimen information (including date and time of sample collection) will be collected. Data analysis will be conducted on all participants with at least 2 evaluable samples. The protocol represents minimal risk to the children/adults who provide body fluid for this study, including potential loss of confidentiality (samples will be assigned a unique accession number) and risks associated with blood draws. Adverse Events (AEs)/Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) caused by the study specimen collections will be monitored and recorded in the Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system.

Parasternal Intercostal Muscle Thickening as an Additive Weaning Criterion

Increased days of MV are not without hazards, including barotraumas and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Similarly, premature separation of MV is associated with increased mortality secondary to adverse cardiorespiratory events. Therefore, the time of weaning should be wisely evaluated. There is growing evidence concerning respiratory muscles dysfunction that contributes to difficulty or prolonged liberation from MV.

"Mini Fluid Challenge Assessment: a Comparison Among Three Hemodynamic Tools"

The mini fluid challenge (mini\_FC) is a functional hemodynamic test which has been used in different clinical contexts to assess fluid responsiveness. This test is performed by rapidly injecting a small aliquot of fluid (100 ml over 1 minute), which is followed by the infusion of the residual aliquot of fluid. Since the threshold of the mini\_FC identified by the literature is rather small (5% of stroke volume (SV) increase after the 100 ml bolus to discriminate between responder and non-responder), it is crucial that the hemodynamic tool assessing this change could be reliable. Moreover, the SV changes with inspiratory/expiratory movements and the increase after the mini\_FC should also consider the physiological fluctuations of the SV. In the literature this test has been performed by means of tolls with different least significant change of the SV. The least significant change (LSC) represents the smallest difference between successive measurements of SV that can be considered to be a real change and not attributable to chance. The purpose of this study is to assess the agreement among MOSTCARE system (4.5\& of SV LSC described in the literature) and the echocardiography (about 10% of SV LSC described in the literature) with the PICCO system (about 1% of SV LSC described in the literature - considered the gold standard) in discriminating fluid responsiveness after a mini\_FC

Efficacy of SGLT2 Inhibitors in Adults With Sepsis

Goal of this clinical trial is to examine the safety and efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitors on the clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis. Main study outcomes are as follows: (i) Primary objective is to examine the efficacy and safety of SGLT2 inhibitors on clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis. (ii) Secondary objective is to examine the effect of SGLT2 inhibitors on inflammatory markers in patients with sepsis.

Remote Ischemic Preconditioning in Septic Patients

Acute kidney injury is a well-recognized complication in critically ill patients. Up to date there is no clinically established method to reduce the incidence or the severity of acute kidney injury. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) will be induced by three cycles of upper limb ischemia. The aim of the study is to reduce the incidence of AKI by implementing remote ischemic preconditioning (identified by the urinary biomarkers tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7(IGFBP7)

Filter Lifespan in Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy

The only supportive therapy for patients with AKI is renal replacement therapy (RRT). In the ICU setting, continuous RRT (CRRT) is mostly favored. In a post-hoc analysis of the RICH trial (regional citrate versus systemic heparin anticoagulation for CRRT in critically ill patient with AKI), it was shown that the filter life span is associated with an increased rate of new infection and that the type of anticoagulants did not directly affect infection rate. The mechanisms of this infection rate is unknown.

Clinical Outcomes Of Mega-dosage Supplementations Of Cholecalciferol In Critically Ill Patients With Sepsis

Non-COVID-19 sepsis (Sepsis) has always been one of the common diseases in critically ill patients. The main treatment strategy is to kill pathogens and mitigate hyperinflammation. One study demonstrated that the supplementation with 576,000 IU cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) as a single dose in critically ill adults in the medical intensive care units (MICUs) can improve clinical outcomes, including acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score (APACHE II), sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA), and C-reactive protein (CRP). It is a three-year, multi-center, prospective, parallel, double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial for 240 eligible subjects, with administrations of vitamin D3 576,000 IU or placebo every 24 hours for 3 days (72 hours) within 96 hours after intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

Macrohemodynamic Impact of Fluid Removal With Net Ultrafiltration in Patients With Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy

Macrohemodynamic impact of fluid removal with net ultrafiltration in patients with continuous renal replacement therapy. A monocentric ancillary study of the EarlyDry randomized controlled trial.

Dynamic Full-field Optical Coherence Tomography for Structural and Microbiological Characterization of Endotracheal Tube Biofilm in Critically Ill Patients

Biofilm is a microstructure organised into aggregates of microbiological species within a polymeric matrix. As early as the 2000s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognised the possible role of the biofilm lining endotracheal endotracheal tubes in the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) , the most common infection in intensive care, with a high morbidity and mortality rate and a significant increase in hospital costs. Targeting biofilm therefore now appears to be a new area of interest for limiting the risk of VAP, and this rationale has led to the development of an intraluminal for abrading biofilm deposited on the inside of the intubation probe . Evaluation of this type of strategy nevertheless justifies the introduction of more precise methods for characterisation of the biofilm. To this end, the investigator carried out an initial clinical study describing the biofilm on intubation probes, BIOPAVIR 1, showing the existence of several biofilm structures, each associated with a specific microbiological signature. Several limitations including a lack of power due to an insufficient number of patients and the use of number of patients, and the use of a confocal microscopy technique with poor axial without the possibility of acquiring metabolic images of the biofilm. Based on the previous description of biofilm by optical coherence tomography (OCT), and a recent experience with an optimised form of high-resolution OCT, called full-field OCT, the investigator hypothesise that full-field OCT will allow more accurate characterisation of biofilm, due to its high spatial resolution and its potential ability to capture metabolic activity in the biofilm BIOPAVIR 2 proposes to use the performance of full-field OCT to better characterise the biofilm lining endotracheal tubes in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in intensive care units. This project represents a first step towards understanding the link between the development of biofilm on intubation and the occurrence of VAP

Monocyte Profiles in Critically Ill Patients With Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Sepsis

The present study focuses on patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSA) sepsis. The aim of the present study is to find out whether the M1 (pro-inflammatory) or M2 (anti-inflammatory) phenotype predominates in blood monocytes in critically ill patients with PSA-sepsis, and whether the severity of sepsis and outcome is associated with distinct monocyte phenotype and function.

The EXCEL Registry of Patients Requiring ECMO

ECMO is associated with significant costs, risks and requires specialist training and expertise. EXCEL is a novel, high-quality, detailed prospective registry of patients requiring ECMO in Australia and New Zealand. The registry provides information on patient selection, complications, costs and patient reported outcome measures. EXCEL uses the Theoretical Domains Framework to identify evidence-practice gaps and explore barriers and enablers to tailor implementation of evidence

The TEAM Long-Term Cohort Study (A Sub-study of TEAM(III))

This study is a prospective cohort study to evaluate the long-term effects of early activity and mobilisation compared to standard care on disability, function and health status for patients at 1, 2 and 5 years after recruitment of patients randomised into the TEAM Phase III RCT (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03133377). The primary outcome of the study will be the level of disability as measured by the World Health Organisation's Disability Schedule 2.0, 12 level (WHODAS) at 2 years after recruitment.

The Effects of Pancreatic Enzyme Supplementation in Critically Ill Patients on Enteral Feeding

Determine the effect of high-dose pancreatic enzyme supplementation on nutritional indicators and clinical course in critically ill patients undergoing enteral nutrition.