Active clinical trials for "Respiratory Distress Syndrome"

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.

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.

Infants born between 28 and 32 weeks' gestation with radiological findings and clinical symptoms of moderate RDS, requiring respiratory support with Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (NCPAP) within the first hour of life, were randomized to receive either standard medical air or a Heliox/Oxygen mixture 80/20 (Heliox) during the first 12 hours of life, followed by medical air until NCPAP was needed. The aim of the study was to assess the therapeutic effects of breathing a low-density gas mixture (heliox: 80% helium and 20% oxygen) in premature babies with Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), undergoing NCPAP in terms of reducing the rate of mechanical ventilation (MV).

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.

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.

Acute Respiratory Failure (ARF) requiring mechanical ventilation affects 1.1 million of the 4.4 million people admitted to United States Intensive Care Units (ICU) every year. Patients with ARF have an average ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS) of 8 and 15 days, respectively, with median hospital costs greater than $30,000 United States. Patients with ARF experience deconditioning, muscle weakness, joint contractures, dyspnea, depression, and reduced health-related quality of life, all of which may contribute to prolonged hospitalization and increased costs. Mechanistically, it is understood that patients with ARF demonstrate acute inflammation which may contribute to the above cited problems. While the investigators' research and that of others has shown that rehabilitation therapy can increase functional outcomes while lowering biomarkers of inflammation in the frail aged and other clinical populations, it is not known whether such rehabilitation therapy can result in improved functional capacity and functional performance and reduce inflammation in ARF patients. There is previous evidence for the feasibility and safety of rehabilitation therapy in ARF patients. Therefore, the investigators propose a two-arm, randomized trial in 326 patients with ARF to compare Standardized Rehabilitation Therapy initiated in the ICU and administered throughout the hospitalization versus usual care (control). Standardized Rehabilitation Therapy will consist of: passive range of motion, physical therapy and progressive resistance exercise (strength training). The regimen will be administered 7 days/week by a Mobility Team consisting of a critical care nurse, physical therapist and nursing assistant. The investigators will determine whether standardized rehabilitation therapy will reduce hospital LOS, improve functional capacity and performance, improve quality of life, reduce inflammation and reduce hospital costs as compared to usual care. This study's primary objective is to determine whether standardized rehabilitation therapy will decrease hospital length of stay. Hypothesis: Compared to usual care, standardized rehabilitation therapy will reduce hospital length of stay for patients with Acute Respiratory Failure.

The present study will use a new type of respirator in premature babies who need help with their breathing. This new respirator uses signals from the baby's diaphragm - the most important breathing muscle - to control the timing and the amount of air that the baby needs. The goal of the study is to demonstrate that this new respirator can synchronize delivery of air to the baby's efforts, and that synchrony is maintained regardless of whether the baby is breathing with a tube or a mask.

The aim of this multicenter randomized controlled trial is to compare the impact on mortality of patients mechanically ventilated for acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome of two strategies for setting end-expiratory pressure.

King County Lung Injury Project: Survivor Outcome Study (KCLIP:SOS) is a randomized trial for individuals who have survived prolonged mechanical ventilation (5 days or more). The objective is to enroll individuals who are likely to have impaired health status resulting from prolonged critical illness but whose long term prognosis is good. Such individuals are most likely to benefit from the study intervention of case management targeted at post intensive care complications. KCLIP:SOS will test whether an outpatient intervention based on a nurse using a targeted case management tool can reduce patient morbidity and improve quality of life in the 6 months following hospital discharge. This intervention will be compared to usual post-hospital care.

Pulmonary inflammation plays an important role in the development of chronic lung disease (CLD) in preterm infants. This inflammation occurs very early in postnatal life. Any therapy that could be beneficial in preventing CLD should be started very early. The investigators' previous double-blind study has shown that early (< 12 hours) postnatal use of intravenous dexamethasone for 4 weeks significantly suppressed pulmonary inflammation and significantly reduced the incidence of CLD. However, the use of dexamethasone was associated with increased incidence of infection and sepsis. Their follow-up study also suggested an increase in the incidence of psychomotor anomalies. As compared to intravenous administration, endotracheal instillation will provide more local anti-inflammatory effects and less systemic side effects. Infants will be eligible for the study if their birth weight (BW) is < 1500 gm and if they had severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) requiring mechanical ventilation shortly after birth. After informed consent is obtained, the infant will be randomly assigned depending on the condition of the infant. The primary outcome is the change in cytokines (interleukin-6, 8, 10 and TNF-α) levels in BAL fluid. Chronic lung disease (CLD) was judged at 36 postmenstrual weeks. Infants in the study group (S/B group) received surfactant (Survanta®, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL; 100 mg or 4 mL/kg/dose) and Budesonide (Pulmicort®, AstraZeneca Pty Ltd., Australia; 0.5 mg or 1mL/kg/dose), while those in the control group (S group) received surfactant (Survanta® Abbott, 100 mg/kg/dose) and saline (1mL/kg).