Active clinical trials for "Pneumonia, Aspiration"

The two most common consequences resulting from aspiration are chemical pneumonitis and bacterial aspiration pneumonia. Both entities present with comparable clinical signs and symptoms. In the absence of a reliable clinical or biological marker to differentiate between these two conditions, most patients with suspected aspiration are treated empirically with antibiotics. De-escalation of initial antibiotic treatment is encouraged based on the results of microbiological results, usually performed before starting antimicrobial treatment. However, in most hospitals, 48-72h are required to obtain the results of microbiological cultures, and to de-escalate empirical large spectrum antibiotic treatment. The use of the Unyvero®, a multiplex PCR-based testing system, for detection of respiratory bacterial pathogens would allow decreasing the percentage of patients with aspiration syndrome who will receive unappropriated antibiotic treatment at Day 3.

This is a case series study using gastric ultrasound in critically ill patients to quantify gastric residual volumes to compare the efficacy of different NPO protocols.

Aspiration pneumonia is a common complication in senior patients with high morbidity and mortality rate. The decline of physical function among elders can easily lead to swallowing disorders, and nasogastric (NG) tube insertion is an emergency medical treatment that provides patients with adequate hydration and nutrition. However, NG is easily dislodged after a long duration of placement; furthermore, lacking accurate feeding skills could also lead to aspiration pneumonia.

Because the cricoid force in children has not been quantified, clinicians wrongly used the 'adult' force. it has been found that the use of the adult force can result in compression and distortion of the child's airway and can lead to airway obstruction and difficult intubation. Based on known measurements of the cricoid surface area in children, the theoretical forces necessary to occlude the esophageal entrance have been calculated . These forces were found to be much less than the recommended adult force and much less than the forces that distort the airway as reported previously. Based on these theoretical calculations, the current study was performed to determine the effective cricoid force for pediatric groups (group 1 and group 2).

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of early antibiotics in ICU patients who appear to have aspirated, to help determine whether this improves outcomes by reducing the later incidence of pneumonia and other negative consequences.

Although there are fasting guidelines offered by the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) for managing preoperative patient assessment, some patients may need to be more cautious about the risk of aspiration. Since ultrasound has been a part of perioperative anesthesiology practice, it is simple to assess gastric content preoperatively with bedside ultrasonography (USG). More research is necessary to define elective surgeries with a possible risk of aspiration. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the adequacy of standard fasting protocols in post-traumatic fracture surgery by measuring and evaluating gastric volume and content with USG in the preoperative operating room.

The hypothesis of this study is that esophageal and gastric dysmotility increase the risk of developing aspiration-associated symptoms in children with neurologic impairment. The investigators are conducting a ten week cross over study comparing prucalopride to famotidine for the treatment of aspiration-associated symptoms.

The aim of the study is to understand whether the time that patients should fast after oral ingestion of jelly is similar to that of water, before elective surgery. International guidelines on perioperative fasting recommend 2 hours with no clear fluids ingestion to reduce the likelihood of regurgitation and aspiration pneumonia. But nothing is recommended about the perioperative management of jelly ingestion. 25 adult volunteers will be included on a crossover study. The first intervention will be randomized (oral intake of water or jelly) and in a second moment all participants will be submitted to the opposite intervention. Gastric content and volume will be evaluated through ultrasound. Exclusion criteria include morbid obesity, pregnancy, alcohol abuse and diseases or drugs that can prolong or accelerate gastric emptying such as gastric or esophageal surgery, diabetes mellitus, prokinetic or opioid use. Nowadays, the benefits of reducing preoperative fasting time are well known, such as avoiding dehydration and metabolic complications like ketoacidosis. It can also improve patient satisfaction. Oral jelly may improve preoperative hydration while also providing some nutritional support prior to procedures.

The goal of this pilot prospective cohort study is to examine the reproducibility of gastric volume and emptying as measured by gastric ultrasound and its correlation to a gold-standard test for gastric emptying in the perioperative period in pediatric patients. The main questions it aims to answer are: What is the reliability (inter-rater variability between expert and novice assessors, and intra-rater variability) of a) the gastric antral cross-sectional area (CSA) and b) gastric volume using the Perlas US qualitative grading assessment, measured by using an ultrasound device in pediatric patients undergoing general anesthesia for elective surgery? What is the correlation between ultrasound assessment of gastric emptying by the antral-CSA and gastric emptying determined by the acetaminophen absorption test (AAT), the gold standard? The study will include two cohorts. Cohort assignment will be based on age and anesthesia induction plan. Subjects >7yrs of age and expected to get an IV induction will be assigned to Cohort #1. Subjects <7yrs of age and not expected to get an IV induction will be assigned to Cohort #2. Cohort 1 will include abdominal ultrasound for gastric assessment AND the acetaminophen absorption test which includes administering enteral acetaminophen (tylenol) with 6 oz of water and drawing of blood samples through a peripheral intravenous line. Cohort 2 will include subjects for whom a peripheral intravenous line placement is not part of routine pre-operative care. Procedures for Cohort 2 will include abdominal ultrasound only in the pre-op area (no tylenol). This cohort is included to examine the reliability of measurements across age groups.

Sunnybrook Veterans Centre (VC) is a long-term care (LTC) facility with many elderly residents living with swallowing disorders who are at high risk of developing pneumonia from aspirating food/liquid into their lungs. Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) using a hand-held resistance device over a four week intensive program has been shown to have promising results in improving cough function and reducing aspiration during swallowing in older, community-dwelling adults. The purpose of this study is to explore whether a modified slow-stream protocol of EMST over eight weeks is an effective therapy for improving swallowing safety and lung clearance in elderly VC residents with swallowing disorders. Before and after the eight week therapy program, we will measure participants' cough under spirometry, swallowing under videofluoroscopy, and their swallowing-related quality of life and diet texture modification. A three month follow-up visit will measure swallowing-related quality of life again, as well as record incidence of respiratory tract infections requiring antibiotics in the last three months, to be compared with broader institutional data.