Active clinical trials for "Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn"

The objective of our study is to evaluate the efficacy of helmet ventilation as compared with Face mask in patients with respiratory failure.

Noisy Pressure Support Ventilation (noisy-PSV) would lead to improved lung function, while preserving respiratory muscle unloading. Basically, noisy PSV differs from other assisted mechanical ventilation modes that may also increase the variability of the respiratory pattern (e.g. proportional assist ventilation) by the fact that the variability does not depend on changes in the patient's inspiratory efforts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the optimal variability for noisy PSV in patients with ALI based on its effects on respiratory mechanics, breathing comfort, gas exchange, and hemodynamics. The investigators hypothesize that noise in pressure support leads to variations in VT that are able to improve lung function and that physiologic variables respond differently to the degree of variability in pressure support

Those infants who received the muscle relaxation in combination with the vagolytic (reduce vagus nerve impulses) and pain medication will have reduced time to successful intubation (placement of tube into the lungs), a decrease in the number of attempts, and better intubation conditions reported by the practitioner. The objectives of the study include: 1.) Does the medication protocol outlined in this study provide optimal intubation conditions? (i.e.good jaw relaxation, open and immobile vocal cords and suppression of gag reflex) 2.) Does the addition of a muscle relaxant prior to intubation contribute to less attempts and achieving successful intubation as opposed to neonates who do not receive the muscle relaxant.

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no proven pharmacologic treatment for patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Great interest remains in the use of corticosteroids for the salvage of patients with severe acute lung injury in the early phase of their disease process, a situation that that has not been evaluated in most published trials. Dexamethasone has never been evaluated in ARDS in a randomized controlled fashion. HYPOTHESIS AND OBJECTIVES: The investigators hypothesize that adjunctive treatment with intravenous dexamethasone of patients with established ARDS might change the pulmonary and systemic inflammatory response and thereby will increase the number of ventilator-free days and will decrease the extremely high overall mortality. Our goal is to examine the effects of dexamethasone on length of duration of mechanical ventilation (assessed by number of ventilator-free days) and on mortality, in patients admitted into a network of Spanish intensive care units (ICUs) who still meet ARDS criteria at 24 hours after ARDS onset.

When babies are born premature, they often need help with their breathing. The equipment used to help them breathe is not very comfortable and they sometimes need to be put on a specialized breathing machine with a tube into their lungs. The breathing machine or ventilator can be damaging to the newborn's lungs and more damage can occur the longer the newborn stays on a ventilator leading to chronic lung disease later in their lives. A new device called neurally adjusted ventilatory assist or NAVA is available that the investigators believe may be more comfortable for the premature newborn and may help the baby come off breathing support sooner. When using this device, babies may not need to be put on a ventilator and can avoid the lung damage associated with the breathing tube and the ventilator. The objective of this pilot study is to compare this new breathing device called NAVA, to the equipment that is currently being used, called SiPAP, to support premature newborn's breathing after birth without a breathing tube. The investigators hope to show that with this new technology, premature newborns that are having a difficult time breathing, will come off breathing support sooner compared to the breathing machines that are currently being used. The hypothesis for this proposed study is that improved synchrony with noninvasive NAVA will decrease time spent on noninvasive ventilation and avoid intubation.

In the past five years, there is a growing body of published evidence on the feasibility, and oxygenation and lung protection benefits of high frequency oscillation (HFO) in the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The investigators have recently demonstrated the short term feasibility and additional benefits with respect to oxygenation of HFO combined with tracheal gas insufflation (TGI). In the present clinical trial, the investigators intend to test the hypothesis that HFO-TGI may result in improved respiratory physiology and clinical course compared to low tidal volume conventional mechanical ventilation in patients with severe ARDS.

Advances in perinatal care have made it possible to improve the survival of the most immature neonates, but at the cost of an increase in the population at risk of developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Measures that have attempted to limit the development of BPD are not always effective, or related to major side effects. The physiopathological factors that are identified in BPD should, in theory, respond to surfactant. Therefore, the use of an exogenous surfactant in neonates presenting with pulmonary disease requiring mechanical ventilation, leading to a significant risk of BPD, should allow earlier extubation and thus promote pulmonary healing and growth.

Lung units which participate in gas exchange are known as 'recruited' lung. Patients with lung injury suffer from a proportion of units which do not participate in gas exchange (i.e. the derecruited state), which results in impaired gas exchange and induces an inflammatory cascade. Currently, there is no clinical practice guideline in our intensive care unit regarding lung recruitment strategies for children with lung injury. While many studies have demonstrated efficacy (ability to open the lung) and safety of recruitment maneuvers in adults, no such studies have been performed in children. The primary purpose of this study is therefore to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a recruitment protocol designed to maximally recruit collapsed lung in children with acute lung injury. Each study patient will follow a recruitment protocol (see Appendix 2). Two 'controls' will be utilized in this study: baseline ventilation (no recruitment maneuver) and the open lung approach (a sustained inflation followed by increased PEEP). Efficacy will be defined as an improvement in lung volume (as measured by nitrogen washout and electrical impedance tomography), and by an improvement in measured arterial partial pressure of oxygen. Safety will be defined as the incidence of barotrauma and hemodynamic consequences which occur during the protocol. A secondary purpose of this study will be to further validate electrical impedance tomography (EIT) as a non-invasive tool describing the lung parenchyma by comparing it to an accepted standard method of measuring lung volumes, the multiple breath nitrogen washout technique. Validation of EIT would allow clinicians to have a non-invasive image of a patient's lungs without the risks imposed by radiography. The information we learn will be instrumental in defining an optimal strategy for lung recruitment in children with lung injury.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and acute lung injury (ALI) are medical conditions that occur when there is severe inflammation and increased fluids in both lungs, making it difficult for the lungs to function properly. Hospital treatment for a person with ALI/ARDS often includes the use of a breathing machine, or ventilator, until the person is able to breathe without assistance. Initiating proper nutrition through a feeding tube early in a person's hospital stay may help to improve recovery, but the optimal timing, composition, and amount of feeding treatments remain unknown. This study will evaluate whether early or delayed full-calorie feeding through a feeding tube is more effective in reducing recovery time and increasing survival rates in people with ALI/ARDS.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a severe lung disease caused by a variety of direct and indirect issues. It is characterized by inflammation of the lung parenchyma leading to impaired gas exchange and persistent hypoxemia. This condition is often fatal, usually requiring mechanical ventilation. Recruitment maneuver aimed to enhance the effect of mechanical ventilation.The objective of this study was to compare safety and efficacy of two lung recruitment maneuvers.