Active clinical trials for "Airway Obstruction"

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common progressive lung disease which causes breathlessness and frequent exacerbations, with patients often requiring hospitalisation. Patients with severe COPD commonly become housebound and lose their independence. They have a higher symptom burden than those with incurable lung cancer, yet are less likely to receive specialist palliative care, or to have been engaged in advance care planning (where patients discuss and often document their wishes regarding their future care). Hospital admissions become increasingly common towards the end-of-life; therefore, hospitalisation is a good opportunity to identify patients at risk of poor outcome. Such patients may wish to consider alternatives to admission and avoid intrusive treatments. Unfortunately, predicting which patients are likely to die in the near future is challenging thus far. The first step required to improve provision of palliative care services, and ensure patients are given the opportunity to make truly informed decisions about their future care, is accurate identification of those most likely to benefit. Well-designed clinical (prognostic) tools outperform clinician judgement in most settings. The investigators will compare the accuracy of one year mortality prediction of several clinical tools in patients who survive a COPD exacerbation requiring admission. This will initially be performed using existing data collected during previous research (the 1,593 patient validation study for the PEARL score - Previous admissions, extended Medical Research Council Dyspnoea score, Age, Right and Left heart failure), then confirmed in at least 310 patients admitted uniquely and consecutively with an exacerbation of COPD. The latter group of patients will be invited to participate in a longitudinal follow-up study, assessing symptom burden, quality of life, and readmissions over one year.

The aim of this study was to investigate the airway inflammatory profile and the clinical presentation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in never smokers compared to smokers with COPD.

The aim of the study is to examine possible changes in lung function, nitric oxide levels and systemic inflammatory markers in cement dust exposed workers, during one shift (6-8 hours).

The ELISABET STUDY is across sectional Survey on a representative sample of two urban area conduct on a representative sample. The main objective of the project is to compare the prevalence of the obstructive ventilatory disorders (OVD) in the Urban Community of Dunkirk touched by the industrial pollution in relation to the one recovered in the Urban Community of Lille (CUDL) less industrialized.

Assessment of the airway forms part of routine anesthetic practice. However, the predictions referred to intubation or ventilation difficulties are usually inconclusive. In effect, the failure rate in predicting such difficulties exceeds 60%. In this scenario it is not possible to know whether a given patient will be difficult to intubate and ventilate. These are referred to as non-intubate and non-ventilate cases with a high risk of severe neurological complications and even death due to hypoxemia. According to all the clinical guides, the solution in such cases usually involves the use of supraglottic devices that rescue oxygenation through effective ventilation. In the event of ventilation failure with a supraglottic device, it is currently not possible to know whether the device is correctly positioned, unless some other instrument such as a flexible fiberscope is used to visualize the anatomy beyond the ventilation device. The TotalTrack is a new device with all the characteristics of a supraglottic device that moreover includes a camera at the tip, allowing us to confirm anatomical positioning with respect to the glottic structures. This device also allows intubation under indirect visualization of the glottis, thus adding the possibility of definitive patient lung isolation. The primary objective of this study is to determine the capacity to visualize the glottic structures through the camera of the TotalTrack device, compared with glottic visualization afforded by indirect laryngoscopy in the same patient. The Cormack-Lehane scale and percentage of glottic opening (POGO) are used for this purpose. The secondary objectives comprise assessment of the ventilation, intubation and TotalTrack device withdrawal times. The hemodynamic changes associated to both techniques during intubation and TotalTrack device withdrawal are also evaluated. Minimum patient oxygenation throughout the procedure is assessed. The sealing and ventilation pressures during operation of the TotalTrack device are recorded. Likewise, an analysis is made of the number of placement attempts, visualization improvement maneuvers, and minor complications associated to the use of the TotalTrack device (presence of blood upon withdrawal or pharyngeal pain), with their degree of severity.

The goal of this clinical research study is learn about side effects and the success of bronchoscopies when performed in cancer patients with and without symptoms. This is an investigational study. Up to 110 patients will take part in this study. All will be enrolled at MD Anderson.

The specific objectives were to determine whether high dose dexamethasone are more effective than low dose dexamethasone in the reduction or prevention of post-extubation airway obstruction among patients with a cuff leak volume (CLV) < 110 mL.

Laryngotracheal injury related to intubation may cause narrowing of the airway due to edema of the glottis. Post-extubation airway frequently necessitating re-intubation and resulting in the prolongation of intensive care. Factors correlating with the development of post-extubation stridor include age, female gender, an elevated Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation II, trauma related to endotracheal intubation, excessive ETT size, unnecessary tube mobility, increased cuff pressure, frequent tracheal aspirations, infection, arterial hypotension, and a prolonged intubation period. Because the presence of an endotracheal tube (ETT) precludes direct visualization of the upper airway, recognition of edema due to laryngotracheal injury is often difficult. However, upper airway patency may be measured indirectly in the intubated patient by documentation of a leak around the ETT upon deflation of the sealing balloon cuff encircling the ETT. Controversy currently exists regarding the effectiveness of prophylactic steroid therapy for patients considered at high risk for post-extubation stridor. Only a limited number of prospective trials involving adults and evaluating the benefits of corticosteroid therapy prior to extubation have been conducted. Studies regarding the efficacy of prophylactic corticosteroids for intubated patients have yielded conflicting results due to differences in the number of doses or types of corticosteroids administered. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of prophylactic dexamethasone therapy for a subset of high-risk patients who had been intubated for > 48 hours and who were undergoing their first elective extubation in an ICU setting. The specific objectives were to determine whether multiple doses of dexamethasone are effective in the reduction or prevention of post-extubation airway obstruction in patients with a cuff leak volume (CLV) < 110 mL and to ascertain whether an aftereffect follows the discontinuation of dexamethasone.

This study was designed to follow a group of adolescents who were previously examined by questionnaire and pulmonary function tests when they were aged 8-10 years old. Approximately 50% of the population in 10 towns were seen again at age 17-18. Questionnaires and pulmonary function were repeated. The hypotheses being tested related to whether the previously seen levels of pulmonary function that were related to pollution levels in the towns persisted as the lungs of these children grew and whether dietary antioxidants influences level of attained pulmonary function.

Effect of Self-Directed Versus Traditional Clinical Learning Model on Nurses' Airway Management Competencies and Patients' Airway Related Incidents Introduction Airway crisis situations in ICUs (Intensive Care Units) are common, complex, dynamic and time-sensitive contexts, that pose a significant threat to patient safety, and are a major source of preventable errors. Airway management has the highest priority in patient care, it is the first step in the (ABCDE) approach. The concept of Airway management in nursing perspective includes any nursing procedures and techniques required to keep the airway open and prevent aspiration. Adult learning is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained learning activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills or values. Most adult education is voluntary; therefore, the participants are generally self-motivated. Continuing education (CE) of nurses is increasingly necessary to keep abreast of rapid changes in patient care due to advancements in knowledge and technology and improve their ability to serve the patients safely. Although nursing care has been changed significantly over the past 30 years, methods for clinical training nurses have not. A popular or traditional model for clinical teaching of nurses, including but not limited to; integrating lectures, skills laboratory training and supervised clinical experience. A benefit of this model is the opportunity to assist nurses to integrate the concept learned in class or skill lab in patient care. Also, the instructor can select clinical activities that best meet nurses' needs and are consistent with hospital goals. While, Self-directed learning (SDL) is one of modern approaches of clinical learning, the concept of SDL originates from the Adult Learning Theory, it is a process in which the instructors play a facilitating role while, learners actively participate in identifying their own learning needs, learning goals, allocating resources & decide whether learning method can be used, and engaging in self-reflection & evaluation. The positive outcomes of SDL including but not limited to, greater self-control, self-confidence, autonomy, and lifelong learning skills. In essence the aim of this study will be examining the effect of Self-directed clinical learning model as compared to the traditional models to improve nurses' Airway management competencies and minimize airway related incidents. Research Hypothesis H1: Critically care nurses who will approach self-directed clinical learning model (μ1) will have a higher level of Airway management skills (μ2), (H1: μ1 > μ2). H1: Intensive care units who will approach self-directed clinical learning model to learn their working nurses (μ1) will have a lower frequency of patients' airway-related incidents (μ2), (H1: μ1 < μ2). Subjects and Methods True experimental, prospective, and comparative research design will be utilized in the current study. This study will be conducted at selected two Adult Intensive Care Units, A convenience sample of 60 male and female Critically Care Nurses who are working in the selected Intensive Care Unit, will be recruited to the study. The sample size estimated by (G Power analysis) (independent t tests - One tail, Effect size = 0.65, α = 0.05, Power (1-β) = 0.80, balanced allocation ratio 1:1). The total sample size will be divided into two groups (study and control). All nurses should be corresponded to specific inclusion criteria. Five tools will be formulated to collect data pertinent to the study. Procedure The study will be conducted through three phases; preparation & designation, implementation, and follow up & evaluation phase. The 1st Part will be initiated by allocating the selected ICUs randomly into two paired settings, one for applying traditional learning (control ICU) and the other for self-directed learning experimentation (study ICU). the nurses who are working in selected ICUs and correspond to the inclusion criteria, will be randomly distributed into two equal groups (30 nurses in each group). The nurses who are working in study ICU will be asked to fill out the nurses' readiness assessment sheet to learn independently. The nurses who will demonstrate a high readiness score (>80%) for independent learning will be included. Once implantation is complete, the follow-up and evaluation phase will be initiated by daily monitoring of the occurrence of patients' airway related incidents in both control and study ICUs for a continuous three months. Then, the nurses' knowledge and practices (in the control group) will be evaluated two times, 1st time will be 1 month after the implementation phase, and the second time will be after 3 months from the 1st evaluation (to measure the retention of given education and training). Upon completion of data collection, descriptive and inferential statistics will be utilized to test for differences among the study and control group subjects.