Active clinical trials for "Critical Illness"

Diaphragmatic dysfunction is an important complication of mechanical ventilation. Critically ill patients admitted in a teaching hospital intensive care unit will be evaluated with diaphragm ultrasound to investigate predictors of diaphragmatic dysfunction and the clinical course of these patients. Vascular surgery patients (aortic abdominal surgery) might also be included and assessed with diaphragm ultrasound before and after surgery irrespectively of the need of intensive care unit. On December 2014 the Etical committee approved an amendment to include the possibility to study elective aortic abdominal surgery patient to assess the relationship between surgery related diaphragmatic dysfunction and postoperative respiratory complications.

The study is to show the prognostic factor of HRV parameter and cardiac fibrosis markers in critical illness patients

The primary objective of the DALI study is to compare antibiotic concentrations in patient blood samples with bacteriological objectives associated with maximum bactericidal activity. The antibiotics studied are certain lactams and glycopeptides.

The purpose of this study is to compare the accuracy and precision of two non-invasive methods of measuring cardiac output in critically ill children (<18 yrs). The participants will include any patient admitted to Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) requiring a trans-thoracic ECHO (TTE) as part of their treatment plan. Measurements of intermittent cardiac output will be obtained and compared on participants using standard 2-D TTE and Ultrasound Cardiac Output Monitor (USCOM).

The aim of this research is to investigate critical illness neuromuscular abnormalities in neurocritical care patients.

The primary aim of the present study is to assess satisfaction in a large sample of next of kin in Swiss-German ICUs. Secondary aims are to test the hypothesis that family satisfaction is related to ICU structure and process and to factors related to patients and next of kin. Further, the hypothesis will be tested that proxy assessment is possible, i.e. next of kin rate satisfaction with care similar to patients.

The purpose of this study is to find out whether acute renal failure is associated with BK virus reactivation in postoperative/posttraumatic critically ill patients with severe SIRS/sepsis and shock.

The investigators aim to compare the respiratory mechanics in acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory diseases syndrome (ARDS) patients with and without pleural effusion.

Height/length has to be assessed accurately in critically ill children, as its value is required to assess nutritional status, to calculate nutritional requirements, to calculate body surface area (involved in drug prescriptions), and to assess pulmonary function. The WHO has standardized practices to perform height/length measurements, but this gold standard is not applicable in critically ill children (who cannot stand and are equipped with catheters, tubes and various devices). It is not accurate to rely on previous measurements as children are continuously growing. No height/length measurement tool or method has been validated so far in this population, neither any estimation nor extrapolation methods. The investigators aim to compare the WHO gold standard for height/length measurement to a list of other methods, validated in other children populations and currently used in the pediatric setting. We intend to compare each of them to the gold standard. The secondary objectives are to describe each height/length extrapolation or estimation method and to estimate the practical use of each method for critically ill children. A prospective observational study is planned. 140 critically ill children admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) will be recruited. Body segments (ulna, tibia, knee-heel, arm span) will be measured and length/height extrapolated from formulas used in different populations. Previous length/height measurements will be collected to draw growth curves and extrapolate actual length/height. Parents will be asked how tall their child is. After PICU discharge, while the child meets WHO measurement standards, accurate length/height will be measured and compared to the results of the above mentioned techniques. Comparison will be made in-between these results.

Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors often develop an acquired weakness due to a Critical Illness Polyneuropathy (CIP). Early mobilization in ICU, by reducing the bed rest and decreasing the oxidative stress, was shown to represent a valid preventive option. Purpose: To evaluate whether ICU sessions of stepping verticalization associated with Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) of the lower limbs are able to reduce the occurrence of CIP in Acquired Brain Injured (ABI) patients. Methods: all the ABI patients admitted in our Neurorehabilitation Unit from our ICU were retrospectively evaluated. Patients affected by previous peripheral neuropathy, diabetes, cancer, alcoholism, viral hepatitis, AIDS and autoimmune diseases were excluded. They were divided into 3 groups according to the rehabilitation strategy received in ICU: group 1 received conventional physiotherapy + stepping verticalization sessions with Erigo® (Hocoma, Switzerland); group 2 received conventional physiotherapy + stepping verticalization sessions with FES using ErigoPro®; group 3 received only conventional physiotherapy. As for internal protocol, all patients started rehabilitation in the first week from the ABI and performed 60 minutes/day of rehabilitation, 5 days/week. Primary outcome was the evidence of CIP at Neurorehabilitation admission (=ICU discharge), according to neurophysiological criteria. Secondary outcomes were the strength impairment at Neurorehabilitation discharge, measured by the total Motricity Index score and the Functional Ambulation Classification (FAC) score, assessing quality of gait.