Clinical Research Directory

Flow-Controlled Versus Volume-Controlled Ventilation in Lumbar Disc Herniation Surgery

This prospective randomized trial aims to compare the effects of flow-controlled ventilation (FCV) and volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) on intraoperative airway pressures and oxygenation in patients undergoing lumbar disc herniation surgery under general anesthesia. Adult patients aged 18-65 years, with ASA physical status I-III and a body mass index of 18-30 kg/m², will be allocated to receive either FCV or VCV during routine intraoperative mechanical ventilation. Ventilatory parameters, including peak airway pressure, plateau pressure, pulmonary compliance, EtCO₂, SpO₂, and arterial blood gas variables, will be recorded at predefined time points after intubation. The primary endpoint is the PaO₂ value measured after 20 minutes in the prone position. By comparing respiratory mechanics and oxygenation between the two ventilation modes, this study aims to contribute to the optimization of intraoperative ventilatory management in lumbar disc herniation surgery.

Fentanyl Versus Hydromorphone in Patients on Mechanical Ventilation

Patients with respiratory failure who require mechanical ventilation are not only at risk of death, but also of complications of prolonged ICU stay. Patients may have significant functional decline, impact in quality of life, develop psychiatric disorders and at long-term can lead to significant cost to society. Although sedation and analgesia are considered only supportive therapy, several studies have shown that in patients on mechanical ventilation, different approaches can have significant impact on patient centered outcomes. However, to date, randomized clinical trials on critically ill patients have mostly evaluated the sedative agent but not the analgesic agent. Although morphine and its derivates are the most common used opioid analgesic agents in the critical care setting, only some retrospective studies and some prospective studies compared them head-to-head (ramifentanyl versus morphine and fentanyl versus morphine). Current guidelines recommend choosing the analgesic agent based on pharmacokinectics, physician experience and side-effects profile. To evaluate the differences of two standard-of-care analgosedation agents, the FenHydro trial will be a cluster randomized, pragmatic, pilot and feasibility superiority clinical trial in mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU. The main question the study hopes to answer is whether there is any difference in morphine milligram equivalents administered during mechanical ventilation.

The Geniohyoid Muscle in Critical Illness

Many patients lose muscle due to being unwell in an intensive care unit. This muscle loss can lead to weakness of the arms and legs when they leave the unit, and when they go home. For many years investigators have measured the size of these arm and leg muscles using an ultrasound machine, to take a picture of the muscles. It is also known that patients who are on a ventilator (or "breathing machine") often have problems swallowing when the breathing tube is removed from their mouth. This may be because the muscles of swallowing may also shrink. One of these muscles sits under the jaw and can be measured with ultrasound - the method has been shown to be accurate and reliable in awake volunteers, but these volunteers are usually sat upright in a chair with their mouth closed. Before it can be assed whether these muscles get smaller, it is needed to assess whether the chosen method is suitable in patients on a ventilator; these patients are lying in bed, and their mouths are open slightly due to the breathing tube. Proposed Method This investigation will measure the size of a muscle under the jaw (called the geniohyoid muscle) in patients who are sedated and have a breathing tube in their mouth connected to a ventilator. Using a normal hospital ultrasound machine, one researcher will place the ultrasound probe under the patient's jaw. When the researcher is happy the probe is in the right place, they will take a picture of the muscle and measure its size and thickness. After a short break, the researcher will repeat this process. After a second short break, another researcher who did not watch the first researcher will also place the probe under the jaw and take a picture of the muscle. These measurements can be used to to answer the following questions: 1. How many patients scanned produced images that could be measured? 2. How consistent are the measurements if one person measures the same muscle twice? 3. If two people measure the same muscle, do their measurements agree with each other? The patients will be under sedation when they take part in the study. Because of this, they cannot consent to take part in the study. The patient's next of kin or carer would advise on whether the patient would want to take part. When the patient is awake and has the breathing tube removed, the research team would ask them to sign a consent form to use their data.

Intraoperative Driving Pressure and Postoperative Lung Ultrasound Score in Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between intraoperative driving pressure and postoperative lung ultrasound scores in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. During this specific surgery, factors such as pneumoperitoneum and patient positioning can significantly affect respiratory mechanics. Postoperative lung condition will be objectively assessed using the lung ultrasound score (LUS). The findings may provide valuable insights for optimizing intraoperative mechanical ventilation strategies.

Bronchoscopic Airway Clearance for Improving Lung Aeration in Mechanically Ventilated Patients With Atelectasis

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether bedside flexible bronchoscopy-guided airway clearance can improve lung aeration in adult patients who are receiving invasive mechanical ventilation and have atelectasis with a high airway secretion burden. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does bedside flexible bronchoscopy-guided airway clearance reduce the proportion of nonaerated lung tissue from baseline to day 5? Does this treatment improve other lung aeration measures, respiratory mechanics, arterial blood gas parameters, pulmonary infection score, ventilator-free days, intensive care unit length of stay, and safety outcomes? Researchers will compare usual airway care plus bedside flexible bronchoscopy-guided airway clearance with usual airway care alone to see if bronchoscopy-guided airway clearance improves lung aeration and clinical outcomes. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Participants in the usual care group will receive standard airway management, which may include airway suctioning, postural drainage, humidification, chest physiotherapy, and other routine respiratory care. Participants in the bronchoscopy group will receive the same usual care, plus bedside flexible bronchoscopy-guided airway clearance when predefined criteria for high airway secretion burden are met. Participants will have clinical assessments during the study, including chest imaging, respiratory mechanics measurements, arterial blood gas tests, pulmonary infection score assessment, and safety monitoring. The main assessment will compare quantitative chest computed tomography findings at baseline and day 5 to evaluate changes in nonaerated lung tissue.

Personalized Mechanical Ventilation Guided by UltraSound in Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Rationale Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a frequent cause of hypoxemic respiratory failure with a mortality rate of approximately 30%. The identification of ARDS phenotypes, based on focal or non-focal lung morphology, can be helpful to better target mechanical ventilation strategies of individual patients. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a non-invasive tool that can accurately distinguish 'focal' from 'non-focal' lung morphology. The investigators hypothesize that LUS-guided personalized mechanical ventilation in ARDS patients will lead to a reduction in 90-day mortality compared to conventional mechanical ventilation.

P0.1 and Extubation Failure in Critically Ill Patients

Weaning and extubation are essential steps for the management of critically ill patients when mechanical ventilation (MV) is no longer required. Extubation failure (EF) occurs in approximately 10-30% (1,2) of all patients meeting the readiness criteria and have tolerated a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT). EF is associated with prolonged MV, as well as increased morbidity and mortality (2). Therefore, the early identification of critically ill patients who are likely to experience EF is vital for improved outcomes. EF can result from different factors (respiratory, metabolic, neuromuscular), particularly cardiac factor, and can be caused by the inability of the respiratory muscle pump to tolerate increases in the cardiac and respiratory load (1,3). Respiratory drive represents the intensity of the neural stimulus to breathe. In mechanically ventilated patients, it can be abnormally low (i.e., suppressed or insufficient) or abnormally high (i.e., excessive), and thus result in excessively low or high inspiratory effort, leading to potential injury to the respiratory muscles (i.e., myotrauma) (4,5) or to the lungs. A high incidence of abnormal drive (low or high) may explain the high incidence of diaphragm dysfunction at time of separation from mechanical ventilation (6). Airway occlusion pressure (P0.1) is the drop in airway pressure (Paw) 100 milliseconds after the onset of inspiration during an end-expiratory occlusion of the airway (7). P0.1 measurement is not perceived by the patient and does not influence respiratory pattern. It is, in theory, a reliable measure of respiratory drive because the brevity of the occlusion explains that it is not affected by patient's response to the occlusion and it is independent of respiratory mechanics (8). P0.1 has also been correlated with inspiratory effort (9, 10) and it has been shown that in patients under assisted mechanical ventilation P0.1 might be able to detect potentially excessive inspiratory effort (11). P0.1 is a non-invasive measure and clinically available at bedside since currently nearly all modern ventilators provide a means of measuring it. Originally, a high P0.1 during a spontaneous breathing trial was associated with failure, suggesting that a high respiratory drive could predict weaning failure. However, only a few and old clinical studies investigated the association between P0.1 and extubation failure (EF) and were not conclusive (12,13). We hypothesized that patients with EF would have increased P0.1 values during spontaneous breathing trial (SBT). Therefore, the aims of our study will be to (1) to evaluate the ability of changes in P0.1 (Delta-P0.1) during SBT to predict EF and (2) to assess if Delta-P0.1 is an independent predictor of EF.

Amnioinfusion's Protective Effects on Respiratory and Longitudinal Pediatric Outcomes After Intrapartum Thick Meconium Exposure

Thick meconium in the amniotic fluid occurs in about one out of seven pregnancies and increases the chance that a newborn may have breathing problems after birth. These problems can include the need for oxygen, breathing support, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), or, in severe cases, meconium aspiration syndrome or persistent pulmonary hypertension. Although amnioinfusion or placing sterile fluid into the uterus during labor was previously studied as a way to reduce these complications, earlier research had major limitations. Past studies included all types of meconium, used different fluid types and temperatures, had inconsistent protocols, and did not measure biomarkers of inflammation or look at long-term outcomes. As a result, it is still unclear whether a modern, standardized approach to amnioinfusion can meaningfully improve newborn health when the meconium is truly thick. The PEARL Trial is a randomized clinical trial designed to answer this question. The study will enroll pregnant individuals at or beyond 36 weeks of gestation who develop thick meconium-stained amniotic fluid, confirmed using a simple, objective measurement ("meconium-crit"). Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either: Warm lactated Ringer's (LR) amnioinfusion through an intrauterine pressure catheter (IUPC), following a standardized protocol, or standard care without amnioinfusion. The main goal is to determine whether warm LR amnioinfusion reduces short-term breathing problems in newborns. The study also collects umbilical cord blood at birth to evaluate markers of inflammation and potential brain injury, which may help explain why some infants develop complications. Families will also be contacted when their child is 12 months old to complete a developmental questionnaire that is widely used in pediatric practice. By using a clear definition of thick meconium, a warm LR infusion protocol, fidelity checklists, and long-term follow-up, this trial aims to provide high-quality evidence to guide care in labor and delivery units nationwide.

Diaphragmatic Speckle Tracking During Spontaneous Breathing Trial

Currently, measurement of transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) using oesophageal and gastric balloons is the gold standard for the assessment of diaphragmatic effort. This technique is relatively invasive and its interpretation may be complex. The diaphragmatic longitudinal strain (LSdi) and strain rate (LSRdi) might provide additional information in the assessment of diaphragmatic effort and movement during SBT, allowing early detection of diaphragmatic dysfunction. Patients will be monitored during a 30-120 minutes SBT consisting of no assistance on the ventilator using CPAP with a pressure level of 0 cmH2O. Parameters to evaluate diaphragm function will include diaphragmatic strain (LSdi and LSRdi), diaphragmatic thickening fraction (TFdi), and airway occlusion pressure (ΔP0.1 and ΔPocc). These parameters will be measured immediately before ('baseline') the SBT, as well as 2 minutes ('early' assessment), 15 ('intermediate' assessment) and 30 minutes ('late' assessment) after the beginning of the SBT.

Effect of a Personalized Weaning Strategy on Weaning Success

Weaning from mechanical ventilation is a daily challenge in intensive care units, as it can take up to 50% of the total duration of ventilation. The longer the duration of ventilation is, the more there is complication related with it. Even when the spontaneous breathing trial is succeeded, 10 to 20% of extubations are failed and requires re-intubation. There is two different ways to assess if the patient is capable of breathing by its own : T-piece which can be considered as hard to succeed (it can delay extubation for some patients) or pressure support ventilation with no PEEP which can be too easy and lead to an extubation too early. Studies have identified risk factors of weaning induced pulmonary oedema wich is one of the main cause of failed extubation (up to 60%). The purpose of P-WEAN is to evaluate whether a personalized strategy for weaning from mechanical ventilation, including daily search for weaning criteria and individualization of the weaning modality (T-piece or pressure support ventilation with zero PEEP) based on the existence of WIPO risk factors (obesity, COPD, heart disease) improves weaning success compared with usual practice.

Mode of Ventilation During Critical Illness at Multiple Centers

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether the choice of ventilator mode for patients on breathing machines in the intensive care unit affects their survival and recovery. To do this, researchers will assign the entire participating intensive care unit to one of the three available ventilator modes, alternating which mode is assigned in random sequence every 2 months. The main question it aims to answer is: Does the choice between volume control, pressure control, and adaptive pressure control affect the number of days that patients are alive and free of the breathing machine?

Skin Conductance in Ventilated Preterms

The goal of this observational study is to learn more about the pain and stress experienced by newborn infants receiving mechanical ventilation (breathing through a machine). The main questions it aims to answer are: * Do different ventilator settings (modi) cause different degrees of pain and stress? * Can skin conductance measurement be used to evaluate the pain and stress caused by mechanical ventilation in newborns? * Can skin-to-skin care alleviate the stress caused by mechanical ventilation? Participants will be monitored according to clinical protocol with the addition of electrodes placed on the infant's foot, measuring changes in skin conductance.

Anemia and Duration of Mechanical Ventilation

In mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care unit, anemia is commonly seen and it is probably associated with adverse outcomes including mortality. We aim to investigate the impact of duration of anemia and the duration of mechanical ventilation as well as clinical outcomes in critically ill patients in intensive care unit who required ventilatory support \>96 hr.

Rehabilitation Practices in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Invasive Mechanical Ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit.

This international, multicenter, observational study aims to describe rehabilitation practices in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) worldwide. The primary objective is to provide an overview of current rehabilitation strategies used in ICUs globally. Secondary objectives include assessing the relationship between rehabilitation and key ICU outcomes such as ICU and hospital mortality, length of stay, duration of invasive ventilation, extubation failures, and long-term outcomes including quality of life and functional performance 28 days post-ICU discharge. The study will also compare rehabilitation practices across different geographic and economic regions to identify potential disparities. The study is structured into three modules, with participation contingent on local resources and feasibility. The BASIC Module (mandatory for all centers) gathers fundamental data on rehabilitation practices and their association with patient outcomes. The EXTENDED Module (optional) collects more detailed information on the type, timing, duration, and safety of rehabilitation interventions, including passive exercises, active mobilization, respiratory therapies, dysphagia training, occupational therapy, and cognitive support. The EXTENDED FOLLOW-UP Module (optional) evaluates the patient's quality of life and functional recovery 28 days after ICU discharge. By examining global rehabilitation practices and their impact on patient outcomes, this study aims to improve rehabilitation strategies in ICUs, contributing to better patient care, recovery, and long-term health outcomes.

Influence of Lung Volume Optimization Maneuver on Cardiac Output and Lung Compliance in Ventilated Children With Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Surgical Repair

The aim of this randomized interventional multi-center clinical trial is to determine whether a standardized lung volume optimization maneuver (LVOM), including PEEP titration, improves outcomes in children undergoing biventricular repair for congenital heart disease (CHD) with cardiopulmonary bypass. The primary hypothesis is that optimizing end-expiratory lung volume through a standardized PEEP titration maneuver improves cardiac performance and lung function. Secondary objectives are to evaluate whether this strategy reduces duration of mechanical ventilation, improves hemodynamics and ventilation-perfusion matching, and decreases the need for vasopressor support.

Clinical Study of Esketamine in Patients With Sepsis Undergoing Invasive Mechanical Ventilation

Sepsis is a syndrome of acute organ dysfunction resulting from dysregulated host responses to infection, often leading to severe complications such as acute lung injury and ARDS. ICU patients on mechanical ventilation face multiple noxious stimuli and require effective analgesic and sedative treatments to improve prognosis. The limitations of existing analgesic and sedative drugs are as follows:Opioids (such as remifentanil) have strong analgesic effects but can easily cause adverse reactions such as respiratory depression, hypotension, and gastrointestinal dysfunction.Sedative drugs like midazolam may lead to delirium and gastrointestinal dysfunction.Esketamine exerts its analgesic and sedative effects by non-competitively inhibiting the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. It has sympathomimetic activity, which can reduce hemodynamic fluctuations. It also has immunomodulatory effects, which may improve the prognosis of sepsis patients. Currently, esketamine is only used for anesthesia induction in surgery, postoperative analgesia, painless procedures, and as an adjunctive treatment for depression, with limited sample sizes and few reports. There are no large-scale clinical studies on the use of esketamine in sepsis patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation, and further verification of its efficacy and safety is needed.

Effects of AbClo Fascial Approximation Device in Patients With Open Abdomen on Respiratory Mechanics

Patients who underwent an abdominal surgery and had the abdomen remain open are called to have an "open abdomen". To limit the risk of further widening of their wounds, surgeons can use AbClo, which is a non-invasive abdominal binding device, to keep the abdominal wall together (i.e., approximate the fascia). However, as the device also compresses on the abdomen and adjacent lungs, this study aims: * To assess whether the abdominal binding device causes changes in the pressure compressing the lungs, the lung volume, and the function of the lungs. * To assess whether adjusting the breathing machine can mitigate such negative changes. Participants will already be on the abdominal binding device when joining the study. Measurements on various aspects of the lung function (including its physical properties and capability to oxygenate the blood) will be done before and after adjustment of the abdominal binding device to the pressure (measured in the device itself) recommended by the manufacturer, as well as after the surgery to close the abdomen.

Intraoperative Protective Mechanical Ventilation in Patients Requiring Emergency Abdominal Surgery

The aim of this study is to compare the effects of a strategy aimed at increasing alveolar recruitment (high PEEP levels adjusted according to driving pressure and recruitment maneuvers) with that of a strategy aimed at minimizing alveolar distension (low PEEP level without recruitment maneuver) on postoperative respiratory failure and mortality in patients receiving low VT ventilation during emergency abdominal surgery.

Predictive Algorithms for Critical Rehabilitation Outcomes

An increasing amount of evidence from evidence-based medicine indicates that early rehabilitation intervention for patients receiving mechanical ventilation is safe and feasible, and can promote functional recovery and reduce hospital stay. However, the conscious state, respiratory function, and daily living activities of these patients after being discharged from the ICU vary greatly, and some patients do not show obvious benefits. How to identify which patients may have benefit from early rehabilitation is a key issue that needs to be addressed in critical care rehabilitation. This study aims to investigate the clinical data related to the disease of the ICU survivors who received mechanical ventilation as the research object, by collecting their clinical data when receiving early rehabilitation intervention, and constructing a clinical prediction model for the efficacy of early rehabilitation intervention in the ICU through the selection of optimal regression equation or machine learning algorithm. The application of this model can effectively determine whether ICU inpatients need early rehabilitation intervention, thereby reducing complication rates and improving their quality of life.

Intelligent Lung Support in the Intensive Care Unit

The aim of this observational study is to test the IntelliLung decision support system based on artificial intelligence. This system is intended to help to set the ventilator. The study includes patients with and without ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) who are receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, as well as patients with additional extracorporeal lung support. The study will be conducted in several centers. The main question of the study: How well do the mechanical ventilation settings of healthcare staff match the recommendations of the IntelliLung system?

Sedation in ICU Patients With Mechanical Ventilation

Sedatives are the mostly common prescription for patients with mechanical ventilation due to the disease or therapies. Ciprofol is a new intravenous anesthetic agent transformed from propofol, and has a similar sedative effect of propofol in previous study. Whether ciprofol is safe and effective similar with propofol for sedation in ICU patients with mechanical ventilation? Therefor, a multi-center, double-blind, randomized control trial was conducted with a noninferiority design, to compared the rate of successful sedation without hypotension of sedation by ciprofol or propofol in ICU patients with mechanical ventilation. A Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial will be launched to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ciprofol versus propofol for sedation in ICU patients with mechanical ventilation.

Double Triggering Asynchrony in Mechanically Ventilated Patients.

This observational study examined double triggering asynchrony in28ICU patients on mechanical ventilation. Researchers collected data on patient characteristics, health conditions, and outcomes to understand how this problem affects critically ill patients. Findings may help improve ventilator care in intensive care units.

Effect of Post-suction Recruitment on Lung Volume in Mechanically Ventilated ICU Patients

Patients who are intubated and mechanically ventilated in the intensive care unit (ICU) require repeated endotracheal suctioning to remove airway secretions. Although this procedure is necessary, it can cause a temporary collapse of lung units (alveolar derecruitment), leading to a decrease in lung volume and impaired oxygenation. A recruitment maneuver consists of briefly applying a higher airway pressure after suctioning in order to reopen collapsed lung areas and restore lung volume. However, the clinical benefit of performing a recruitment maneuver systematically after suctioning remains uncertain. This study aims to evaluate whether performing a recruitment maneuver immediately after closed-circuit endotracheal suctioning improves lung volume compared with suctioning alone. Lung volume will be assessed using electrical impedance tomography (EIT), a non-invasive bedside imaging technique that allows real-time monitoring of lung aeration. In a randomized crossover design, each patient will undergo two suctioning procedures: one followed by a recruitment maneuver and one without, in a random order. The main outcome will be the change in end-expiratory lung volume 15 minutes after suctioning. The results may help optimize ventilatory care in mechanically ventilated ICU patients.

Integrated Rehabilitation in HDU for Post-Intensive Care SyndromeLiberation in Patients With PICS

Post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) is characterized by persistent physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments among survivors of critical illness. Although advances in intensive care medicine have reduced mortality, a large proportion of ICU survivors experience long-term functional impairments after discharge. High-dependency units (HDUs) serve as transitional care settings between intensive care units and general wards. Many critically ill survivors who cannot directly return home are transferred to HDU for continued treatment and rehabilitation. However, evidence regarding systematic multidisciplinary rehabilitation interventions in HDU settings remains limited. This prospective single-center interventional study aims to evaluate the effects of an integrated multidisciplinary rehabilitation model implemented in the HDU on physical, cognitive, and psychological outcomes among patients with post-intensive care syndrome. All enrolled patients will receive standardized integrated medical, nursing, and rehabilitation interventions. Multidimensional functional assessments will be conducted at baseline, during hospitalization, and before discharge from the HDU.