Clinical Research Directory

Gastric Ultrasound in Pediatric Trauma Patients

Gastric ultrasound has become increasingly utilized to examine volume and quality of gastric contents in the preoperative setting to guide anesthetic management and relay risk of aspiration in both adult and pediatric medicine. Gastric fluid volumes in trauma patients are thought to be elevated due to delayed gastric emptying in the setting of an over-attenuated sympathetic response to physical pain and stress, opioid analgesia, and other associated injuries (traumatic brain). However, there is a paucity of literature examining gastric fluid volumes (GFV), measured by gastric ultrasound, in the pediatric trauma population. The purpose of the study is to assess whether preoperative gastric ultrasound is an accurate method to identify pediatric trauma patients who have elevated GFV (\>0.8mL/kg) and high-risk gastric contents (solids, complex liquids, in addition to large volumes).

Nephroprotection in Severe Trauma Patients With Kidney Stress

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) occurs in 24% of trauma patients, and is even more common in those with severe trauma. It is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in trauma. Diagnosis of AKI is based on elevated serum creatinine and decreased urine output, two functional markers already indicating the presence of a significant kidney function impairment. Earlier detection of kidney stress, at a preclinical stage when cellular modifications are still reversible, could reduce the occurrence of AKI episodes if nephroprotective measures are rapidly implemented. Several randomized controlled trials have shown that early implementation of such a nephroprotection bundle-of-care in patients at risk of AKI after major surgery reduces the incidence of severe AKI within 72 hours. Although its use is supported by international guidelines, this nephroprotection bundle-of-care is rarely implemented in its totality, due to the significant financial and human resources required for its full implementation. The Nephrocheck® (NC) test is a urine test for which a result \> 0.3 is predictive of AKI development. It might enable early identification of trauma patients at risk of AKI, so that implementation of the nephroprotection bundle-of-care could be targeted solely at those high-risk patients. Thus, the investigators hypothesize that in a population of severe trauma patients (ISS score\>15) at risk of AKI (defined by a NC on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission \> 0.3), early implementation of a nephroprotection bundle-of-care would reduce the risk of AKI occurring within 3 days of ICU admission, compared with standard-of-care management. This study will compare the occurrence of AKI in these two groups in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.