Active clinical trials for "Critical Illness"

XueBiJing, a Chinese herbal derived therapeutic, has been approved to treat severe infections (sepsis) in critically ill patients (China Food and Drug Administration; Beijing, China, Number Z20040033). Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) will produce large amounts of inflammatory mediators and oxygen free radicals, which causes the lipid peroxidation damage and mononuclear cell migration, thus aggravating organ inflammation and damage. Therefore, exploring new methods to prevent and alleviate organ injury caused by CPB is an important topi in clinical practice. However, little knowledge is regarding the effect of Xuebijing injection on CPB-related organ injury. To answer these questions, the authors conducted this randomized trial to compare XueBiJing with placebo in critically ill patients with cardiovascular surgery.

Introduction: Intensive care unit (ICU) delirium is an acute onset of brain dysfunction, which can affect 25-80% of ICU patients. Delirium is also associated with long term cognition impairment, higher mortality and higher ICU costs. Previous acupuncture studies showed the potential to prevent delirium. This study will examine the ability of acupuncture to treat ICU delirium. Methods: A double-blind randomized control trial will examine the effect of press tack acupuncture vs. press tack placebos. The patients will be randomly divided (1:1) into one of two groups. A total of 80 ICU patient will have to meet the following criteria: age 20-90, APACHE score <30, Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) >4 points (indicates existing delirium), Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS): +1, +2, +3, +4, -1, -2. Three interventions will be given in each group. The main outcomes will be the delirium days according to the ICDSC.

Spontaneous breathing during mechanical ventilation has been recommended in patients with ARDS and is currently used. in part because oxygenation is better and there is a lower risk of diaphragm dysfunction due to disuse. The other approach to minimizing lung injury from spontaneous effort is the use of neuromuscular blockade; an early and short term (48 hours) of neuromuscular blockade in patients with severe ARDS has been shown to decrease inflammation and to improve survival. The investigators propose a pilot study to test the feasibility and the physiological effects of allowing spontaneous breathing in the prone position in patients with ARDS.

Admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is one of the major causes of stress and both physical and emotional difficulties for critically ill patients, both because of the illness that caused the admission and of the ICU nevironment itself. Despite the use of protocols and tools to evaluate sedation, many patients continue to have high levels of anxiety. An inadequate treatment of this condition is associated with increased sympathetic activity which causes dyspnea and an increase in myocardial oxygen consumption. Sedative drugs, on the other side, may have significant side effects. In view of this, there is clear need to find new strategies and instruments allowing for the maximization of critical patients' comfort, by promoting pain, anxiety, stress and agitation relief and minimising the need of sedative therapy. The main hypothesis of this study is that the use of music therapy for critically ill patients can lead to a significant increase of the days free from neuroactive therapy (analgesics, sedatives, antianxiety meds, antipsychotics) in the first 28 days following Intensive Care Unit admission. To this purpose, data obtained from 3 groups of patients will be compared - a group with individual treatment administered by a music therapist and delivered by headphones, a group with a generalised treatment, through the creation of a weekly musical program continuously broadcasted in the hospital room, and a control group.

Fever is part of the body's immune response, often triggered by infection. Fever is commonly treated with medicines such as paracetamol, mainly because people feel unwell with fever. However fever does have a role in fighting infection: it enables the rest of the immune system to function more efficiently, and may directly stop bacteria and viruses from multiplying. In most cases however treating fever does not matter because the rest of the immune system can cope well enough to fight the infection (with or without additional treatment, like antibiotics). In critically ill patients however any advantage in the fight against infection may be crucial. In a large observational study of adult patients in the intensive care unit, patients who developed an early fever with temperature between 38.5-39.5 degrees C fared relatively better than patients who were colder. So it is possible that in critical illness fever may be beneficial. However in critical illness the body does have limited energy resources. In order to raise the body temperature energy is required. However the investigators do not know how much energy is required to generate a fever in critically ill children. This study will aim to try and measure the energy required to generate a fever in a critically ill child. The investigators will measure energy expenditure directly in children admitted to the intensive care unit by measuring the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide they breathe in and out (a method called indirect calorimetry). This will enable the investigators to judge whether the benefits of a fever can be justified by the energy costs in the energy depleted state that is critical illness.

The purpose of this project is to compare the effectiveness of Johrei therapy (JT) and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) in the treatment of sleep disturbances in survivors of critical illness. Subjects will be recruited following discharge from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and followed for 6 weeks. All subjects will undergo objective measurements of sleep quality and duration at baseline and at 6 weeks. Objective measurements will be made by portable (home-based) sleep studies and will wear a watch that measures sleep. Subjective measurements will be performed by sleep questionnaires: PSQI, Epworth sleepiness scale, sleep log, and Stanford Sleepiness Scale which will be performed at baseline, 2 and 6 weeks. A blood draw and urine collection will be done at both baseline and 6 weeks. The central purpose of this proposal is to perform a comparative-effectiveness study of a complementary and alternative approach (Johrei therapy) and CBT-I in the treatment of sleep disturbances in survivors of critical illness. The investigators hypothesize that, in survivors of critical illness, Johrei therapy is superior or comparable to CBT-I in improving sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] and sleep efficiency [measured by polysomnography]). A secondary objective is to compare the effect of Johrei therapy and CBT-I on systemic markers of inflammation and urinary biomarkers of sleep and stress. The investigators hypothesize that, in survivors of critical illness, Johrei therapy is superior or comparable to CBT-I in reducing systemic markers of inflammation and urinary biomarkers of sleep and stress. A tertiary objective is to determine whether the presence of insomnia or other sleep characteristics is associated with hospital readmissions within 30-days.

Microaspiration of contaminated oropharyngeal secretions and gastric contents frequently occurs in intubated critically ill patients, and plays a major role in the pathogenesis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Quantitative pepsin measurement in tracheal aspirates would be useful in diagnosing microaspiration of gastric contents in intubated critically ill patients. Technetium 99m labelled enteral feeding is the gold standard for the diagnosis of microaspiration. The investigators hypothesized that tracheal pepsin measurement is a good diagnosis marker of microaspiration compared to the gold standard.

An early and efficient enteral nutritional support could improve the clinical outcomes of brain injured critically ill patients. Gastrointestinal feeding intolerance defined as an increased gastric residual volume frequently occurs in these patients. Previous experimental studies have suggested that a small-peptide enteral feeding formula could promote the gastric emptying compared to a whole-protein formula. An improved gastrointestinal tolerance of enteral nutrition should allow a rapid increase in the daily caloric intake and enhance nutritional support of brain injured critically ill patients.

Patients who are admitted to the intensive care unit and require mechanical ventilation frequently develop profound respiratory and limb muscle weakness. Studies show that the development of weakness during the ICU stay results in poor outcomes. Currently there are no treatments for this muscle weakness, but it has been suggested that this weakness might improve with physical therapy. Electrical stimulation is a method to provide direct stimulation to the muscles potentially enhancing function and improving strength. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that neuromuscular electrical stimulation of the quadriceps muscle will improve muscle strength in patients who are critically ill on mechanical ventilation.

The purpose of this trial is to investigate if pharmacologically safe dose intravenous glutamine dipeptide supplementation to multiple trauma patients receiving enteral nutrition is associated with improved clinical outcomes in terms of decreased organ dysfunction, infectious complications, and other secondary outcomes