Clinical Research Directory

ENA-001 for Post Operative Respiratory Depression (PORD)

This study is a Phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in 200 subjects having general anesthesia for major elective surgery with postoperative pain management to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of ENA-001 as a therapy to prevent post operative respiratory depression.

ENA-001 for Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression

This study is a Phase I clinical trial to assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profiles with single intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) doses of ENA-001.

Dexmedetomidine vs Propofol in High-Risk ERCP Patients

ERCP requires deep sedation due to pain and discomfort, but propofol-commonly used with opioids-often causes respiratory and cardiovascular complications, especially in elderly or high-risk patients. Dexmedetomidine offers sedation without respiratory depression but may lower blood pressure and heart rate. Current monitoring often relies only on SpO₂, while capnography and the Integrated Pulmonary Index (IPI) provide earlier detection of respiratory events but are underused in ERCP studies. This study compares dexmedetomidine and propofol in high-risk ERCP patients, focusing on respiratory and hemodynamic effects, propofol consumption, recovery, and discharge times. The hypothesis is that dexmedetomidine will cause fewer adverse respiratory and hemodynamic effects.

Comparison of Remimazolam and Propofol in Endoscopic Examinations and Treatments

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Remimazolam, either used alone or in combination with Propofol, for moderate sedation anesthesia during endoscopic therapies or examinations. Additionally, it seeks to explore whether their combination can further enhance the quality of patient anesthesia and recovery outcomes.

Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation for Apnea Detected by Capnography

After surgery, patients often recover in a special area called the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). Patients may receive pain medications either during the surgery or afterward in the PACU. While these medications are important for controlling pain, some of them can slow down breathing. To ensure patients' breathing remains safe, the nurses in the PACU monitor respiratory rate (how many breaths a patient takes per minute) and oxygen levels using standard monitoring equipment. This is the usual way they check for breathing concerns. If these monitors show that a patient's breathing has slowed down too much, nurses may wake the patient up or stimulate them using their voice or gentle physical touch to encourage deeper breaths. What is this study about? This research is testing a new approach that uses an additional monitor called capnography. Capnography helps detect slowing or stopping of breathing by measuring the carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled by patients. If the monitor shows slowed or stopped breathing (called apnea, lasting at least 10 seconds), this study will test using a technology called transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) to encourage normal breathing. How does TES work? TES provides a slight, annoying sensation on the patient's skin-enough to wake them up without causing pain. This has been used in other studies to safely restore breathing after surgery. In this study, the researchers are testing whether a new automated device can deliver TES when the capnography monitor detects breathing issues. The goal is to test the feasibility (can this system work in the PACU?) and acceptability (how do patients feel about this approach?) of this technology. Who can join this study? Adults aged 18 or older who received general anesthesia and medications (opioids) for pain control during or after surgery are eligible. Patients recovering from surgery in the PACU at Toronto General Hospital may be invited to participate. Why is this study important? The study aims to reduce the risk of opioid-related breathing problems after surgery, making recovery safer and more comfortable for patients.

Effect of Percutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation on the Improvement of Incidence of Adverse Respiratory Events

The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of combined acupoint electrical stimulation at Taiyuan (LU9) and Hegu (LI4) on improving the incidence of respiratory adverse events after extubation in patients during the recovery period from general anesthesia. The main content of this study involves selecting patients who have undergone general anesthesia and are admitted to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), with an expected 236 participants. The researchers will randomly assign participants to either the TEAS group or the control group using a random number table. In the TEAS group, electrodes will be applied to the upper limbs at the Taiyuan and Hegu acupoints, without intravenous infusion, and connected to a stimulation device. The stimulation will use a frequency of 2/100 Hz with sparse-dense waves, and the intensity will be adjusted to the maximum current that the patient can tolerate, starting at the time of extubation and continuing for 30 minutes. The control group will receive routine care. Throughout the process, no invasive procedures will be performed. In the PACU, the participants will: Be positioned in a 30° head-up tilt position, with continuous ECG monitoring. The SpO2 alarm on the monitor will be set to 95%. The same anesthesiologist will perform extubation according to the extubation criteria. After extubation, participants will receive routine oxygen therapy via a nasal cannula at 3L/min with a CO2 end-expiratory monitoring module attached to the other end of the cannula. Simultaneously, the TEAS group will undergo transcutaneous electrical stimulation for 30 minutes, or the control group will receive routine care. Participants will be observed in the PACU for at least 30 minutes. If no adverse events occur and the Steward score is ≥4, the patient will be deemed ready for discharge and escorted back to the ward. If there is any significant change in the patient's condition, they will be transferred to the ICU . If any respiratory-related adverse events occur, measures such as awakening the patient, supporting the jaw, increasing oxygen flow, or administering mask oxygen will be taken to ensure patient safety, and these events will be recorded in the "PACU Postoperative General Anesthesia Patient Condition Observation and Nursing Record."

Effect of Propofol Versus Remimazolam Intravenous Anesthesia on Respiratory Depression

General anesthesia is the preferred choice for pediatric patients, but the induction of volatile anesthetics via face mask may cause preoperative anxiety and postoperative delirium. Total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) is more suitable for pediatric patients, as it can effectively alleviate preoperative anxiety, reduce the risk of postoperative delirium and mania, shorten hospital stay, reduce medical burden, and increase parental satisfaction. Propofol, although effective for anesthesia, has drawbacks such as injection pain and respiratory and circulatory suppression. Remimazolam is a novel ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine drug, which has no injection pain, minimal impact on respiration and circulation, and rapid onset and elimination, making it suitable for children. However, research on remimazolam in children is limited. This study aims to compare the effect of propofol and remimazolam intravenous anesthesia combined with regional or caudal block on respiratory depression in preschoolers.

Closed-Loop O2 Use During High Flow Oxygen Treatment of Critical Care Adult Patients (CLOUDHFOT)

High flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNO) is an established modality in the supportive treatment of patients suffering from acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. The high humidified gas flow supports patient's work of breathing, reduces dead space ventilation, and improves functional residual capacity while using an unobtrusive patient's face interface \[Mauri et al, 2017; Möller et al, 2017\]. As hyperoxia is considered not desirable \[Barbateskovic et al, 2019\] during any oxygen therapy, the inspired O2 concentration is usually adapted to a pre-set SpO2 target-range of 92-96% in patients without hypercapnia risk, and of 88-92% if a risk of hypercapnia is present \[O'Driscoll et al, 2017; Beasley et al, 2015\]. In most institutions, the standard of care is to manually adapt the FiO2, although patients frequently have a SpO2 value outside the target range. A new closed loop oxygen controller designed for HFNO was recently developed (Hamilton Medical, Bonaduz, Switzerland). The clinician sets SpO2 targets, and the software option adjusts FiO2 to keep SpO2 within the target ranges. The software option offers some alarms on low and high SpO2 and high FiO2. Given the capability, on the one hand, to quickly increase FiO2 in patients developing sudden and profound hypoxia, and, on the other hand, of automatically preventing hyperoxia in patients improving their oxygenation, such a system could be particularly useful in patients treated with HFNO. A short-term (4 hours vs 4 hours) crossover study indicated that this technique improves the time spent within SpO2 pre-defined target for ICU patients receiving high-flow nasal oxygen therapy \[Roca et al, 2022\]. Due to its simplicity, HFNO is increasingly used outside the ICU during transport and in the Emergency Room (ER). This environment poses specific challenges, as patients may deteriorate very quickly and depending on patient's flow, healthcare providers can easily be overwhelmed. We thus propose to evaluate closed loop controlled HFNO in ER patients. The hypothesis of the study is that closed loop oxygen control increases the time spent within clinically targeted SpO2 ranges and decreases the time spent outside clinical target SpO2 ranges as compared to manual oxygen control in ER patients treated with HFNO.

Vital Signs-Integrated Patient-Assisted Intravenous Opioid Analgesia for Post Surgical Pain

To meet the unmet need of better and safer pain relief for acute pain in the post-operative setting, a Vital-signs-integrated Patient-assisted Intravenous opioid Analgesia ("VPIA") Delivery System, with novel and intelligent software algorithms and specialised hardware was developed. In the previous project, the investigators have shown that this system has the potential to increase the safety and patient satisfaction with intravenous opioid analgesia. However, opportunities to develop more robust vital signs monitoring with the goal of ensuring continual and effective analgesia are identified. The primary aim of this proposal is to advance the development of technology (through new features and functionality) and perform clinical evaluation of the VPIA system with a larger sample size to show improvements in patient's satisfaction (pain relief) and robustness of system in terms of vital signs integration. Novel technology using adaptive vital signs controller, integrated with an infusion pump and single finger probe vital signs monitor system will be developed with the aim for commercialisation.

Vital-signs-integrated Patient-assisted Intravenous Opioid Analgesia

This is a closed-loop system which is embodied in a novel and intelligent algorithm that takes into account patients' vital signs. The system allows better and responsive titration of personalized pain relief together with non-invasive physiological monitoring that measures oxygenation, breathing and heart rate continuously.

Hemidiaphragmatic Paralysis Following Supraclavicular Brachial Plexus Blockade.

The supraclavicular block is a regional anesthetic technique used as an alternative or adjunct to general anesthesia or used for postoperative pain control for upper extremity surgeries (mid-humerus through the hand). First introduced in 1911 by Kulenkampff as a landmark-based approach, the associated risk of pneumothorax was likely responsible for the technique falling out of favor. With the advent of ultrasonography, La Grange described the utilization of the Doppler probe to identify arteries in 1978. Contemporarily, Kapral and colleagues advocated for the dynamic use of ultrasound to guide needle advancement in the supraclavicular position. Colloquially known as the "spinal of the arm," the supraclavicular block is advantageous as the brachial plexus nerves are tightly packed in this approach and speed of onset is often rapidly achieved. However, because of this consolidated relationship, consider restricting volumes of local anesthesia to as low as possible to achieve goals, as compression ischemia may occur.