Active clinical trials for "Critical Illness"

Having previously demonstrated that supplemental parenteral nutrition to complete an insufficient enteral nutrition (EN) between D4 and D8 improves outcome after critical illness, by reducing infectious complications, the present trial aims at investigating the underlying carbohydrate and protein metabolism changes, as well as the immune and inflammatory modulations associated with this improvement.

There is a need to know more about the safety of mobilizing intensive care unit (ICU) patients who are receiving vasoactive drugs that support the heart and blood pressure. But before this research can be done, several uncertainties need to be addressed. To answer these uncertainties, the investigators will ask ICU patients receiving vasoactive drugs to take part in a study in three main stages. Firstly ICU patients will be asked whether they would be happy to take part in a future research trial on the safety of mobilizing patients who are receiving vasoactive drugs. Secondly, data will be collected about the current mobilization on vasoactive drugs that occurs. Finally, the investigators will try to follow up these patients 60 days after they start the study, to carry out some questionnaires and a walking test with the patients. These tests may be used in future research to measure the effect of mobilizing patients on vasoactive drugs.

The study aims to correlate Lean Body Mass (LBM) Evaluated by Musculoskeletal Ultrasound with Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) measured by Indirect Calorimetry and to generate a predictive equation of REE based on LBM, in addition to identifying other factors that may affect REE such as age, gender, and severity scores.

Circulatory shock is a condition of generalized inadequate blood flow through the body, leading to insufficient tissue perfusion and inadequate delivery of oxygen and other nutrients, to the extent that tissues are damaged. Four basic mechanisms of circulatory failure are distinguished, caused by a scale of underlying illnesses: distributive, hypovolemic, obstructive and cardiogenic shock. The last three types are characterized by a low cardiac output and hypovolemia. Distributive shock is characterized by peripheral circulation failure, with a low systemic vascular resistance, a disturbed microcirculation and a high cardiac output. Frequently, these forms overlap. Shock is a common problem in the intensive care unit (ICU) as it affects about one third of the patients. Septic shock appears to be the most common type, followed by cardiogenic and hypovolemic shock. The diagnosis of shock is based on clinical examination with use of well-known circulatory parameters such as blood pressure and heart rate; biochemical parameters such as lactate and direct (semi-)invasive measurement of cardiac output and other variables. Since cardiac output is an important determinant of oxygen delivery, many different methods of measuring cardiac output have been suggested. These methods range from non-invasive to invasive measurements with central lining. The most invasive method, the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) has long been considered the optimal form of monitoring cardiac output by using thermodilution. However, this technique is associated with adverse events, such as bleeding, and there is no clear evidence of improved outcome. Therefore, numerous other techniques have been proposed, ranging from systems that use the dilution technique but only require central venous and peripheral artery lines; to less invasive tools that estimate cardiac output based on the arterial pressure waveform; and to non-invasive echocardiography. Despite technical advances, much remains unknown about the value of conventionally used hemodynamic parameters for estimating cardiac output. A distinction between macro- and microcirculatory parameters can be made. Commonly used macro-circulatory parameters are heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and central venous pressure. Lactate is used as a proxy for microcirculatory status. Over the years several other measurements have been suggested to improve insight in the hemodynamics of a certain patient or a group of patients. Skin temperature, capillary refill, mottling score and urinary output are used for hemodynamic assessment of the peripheral circulation and tissue perfusion. Most of these parameters have not been evaluated in a large prospective study and especially a combination of all these parameters has not directly been correlated to cardiac output. More knowledge on the predictive value of all hemodynamic parameters in estimating cardiac output could assist physicians in earlier detection of impaired hemodynamics without the need for invasive or advanced methods. In this study the investigators aim to evaluate all hemodynamic parameters in a large unselected population of critically ill patients and to correlate them to cardiac output. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an infrastructure for a registry flexible to incorporate temporarily added specific research questions on the outcome of critically ill patients.

This study aims to investigate whether an actigraph, measuring in-hospital activity, used for a week after discharge from the ICU at Zealand University Hospital Køge, can predict physical function at three-month follow up. The hospital activity will be measured with actigraphy, a measurement tool that quantifies activity level. The activity will be measured for 7 days after ICU discharge. The actigraph is to be worn as a bracelet. The physical function will be measured with Chelsea Critical Care Physical Assessment Tool (CPAx). CPAx is assessed at ICU discharge and after three months.

Anemia is common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and often appears early in the ICU course. The optimal management red blood cells RBC transfusion in critically ill patients remains controversial and clinical studies in this field have usually been based on transfusion thresholds. In the "TRICC" Trial, patients assigned to a restrictive transfusion strategy (transfusion if Hb<7 g/dL) had similar mortality to patients transfused if Hb<10 g/dL. Notably, none of the large RCT tried to focus on a personalize RBC transfusion protocol, i.e. a transfusion protocol which address the individual need for transfusion basing on physiological approach. We therefore hypothesized that patients with high extraction of oxygen could benefit more of RBCs transfusion regardless their hemoglobin levels.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the PK/PD of AvyCaz in critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (12). This study will include medical and post-surgical patients who develop an infection where Avycaz can be utilized. Since these patients will have variable PK parameters, the investigators will also analyze (time-kill) these serum concentrations (ex vivo) against relevant clinical isolates (e.g. GNR with ESBL or KPC) from the ICU to determine microbiologic activity of Avycaz in critically ill patients with variable characteristics. Monte-Carlo simulations will also be conducted against clinical ICU isolates (JMI labs) to help determine appropriate dosing schedules based upon these PK parameters.

The research was planned to determine the effect of different blood groups on the 90-day survival of intensive care patients who were treated and maintained for the first time in the intensive care unit. The research is a retrospective descriptive research. For the first time in an intensive care unit aged 18 and over, between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2019, of a state and a university hospital in the Western Black Sea Region, in intensive care units (both medical and surgical patients), All the patients, who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit for at least 24 hours, were discharged from the intensive care unit for 90 days and less, and all the information in the Patient Information Form can be accessed from the automation system. The research will be conducted between 01.04.2020-01.07.2020 by collecting the necessary data within the 'Patient Information Form' of the patients from the information processing unit of the hospitals where the research will be conducted.

Inspiratory muscle weakness develops rapidly in ventilated critically ill patients and is associated with adverse outcome, including prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation and mortality. Surprisingly, the effects of critical illness on expiratory muscle function have not been studied. The main expiratory muscles are the abdominal wall muscles, including the external oblique (EO), internal oblique (IO) and transversus abdominis muscles (TRA). These muscles are activated when respiratory drive or load increases, which can be during e.g. exercise, diaphragm fatigue, increased airway resistance, or positive airway pressure ventilation. The abdominal wall muscles are also critical for protective reflexes, such as coughing. Reduced abdominal muscles strength may lead to decreased cough function and thus inadequate airway clearance. This will lead to secretion pooling in the lower airways, atelectasis, and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). Studies have shown that decreased cough function is a risk for weaning failure and (re)hospitalization for respiratory complications. Further, high mortality was found in patients with low peak expiratory flow. Considering the importance of a proper expiratory muscle function in critically ill patients, it is surprising that the prevalence, causes, and functional impact of changes in expiratory abdominal muscles thickness during mechanical ventilation (MV) for critically ill patients are still unknown. Ultrasound is increasingly used in the ICU for the visualization of respiratory muscles. In a recent pilot study the investigators confirmed the feasibility and reliability of using of ultrasound to evaluate both diaphragm and expiratory abdominal muscle thickness in ventilated critically ill patients (manuscript in preparation). Accordingly, the primary aim of the present study is to evaluate the evolution of abdominal expiratory muscle thickness during MV in adult critically ill patients, using ultrasound data.

The investigators will evaluate the effects of higher protein/amino acid dosing (≥2.2 g/kg/d) vs usual care of protein/amino acid dosing (≤1.2 g/kg/d) over muscle mass in nutritionally high risk ill patients