Active clinical trials for "Unconsciousness"

This behavioral study on healthy participants aims to provide a baseline reference for assessing alterations of decision-making performance in pathological conditions. To this purpose, this single center non-interventional behavioral study will assess the extent to which decision-making performance is affected by distinct experimental manipulations, as well as by ageing effects, in 200 healthy individuals. The main questions it aims to answer are: to what extent is decision-making performance stable, within individuals, regardless of non-economic manipulations concerning stimuli perceptual features as well as type of processing and motor response required to participants? are these manipulations additionally influenced by participants' age? Healthy participants will be recruited for distinct behavioral studies assessing the effects of the aforementioned manipulations of distinct metrics of decision-making performance, such as loss aversion, risk aversion, and delay discounting.

Introduction: A side-lying recovery position is recommended when victims are unresponsive but breathing normally and, hence, do not require cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In 2021, the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) and the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders issued new guidelines which included the description of a modified recovery position to avoid problems in victims with joint stiffness and to overcome potential obstructed venous return in the dependent arm. Based on good practice insights, the dependent arm will now be extended and not bent to support the other arm. However, there is currently no evidence available to support a specific recovery position. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of different recovery positions on perfusion of the forearm and associated comfort. Methods: In this cross-over randomized controlled trial, 24 healthy volunteers will be placed in either the lateral recovery position with extended dependent arm or with bent arm, and in the other position thereafter. Before and between both recovery positions, the volunteers will be positioned supine for 15 min. Several perfusion indices of the forearm will be non-or mildly invasively monitored in the respective recovery positions by radial artery tonometry, ulnar artery echo doppler and venous congestion plethysmography. Subjective participant's discomfort and pain will be assessed as well. Differences in continuous outcomes between the different recovery positions will be assessed with paired t-tests or wilcoxon signed-rank test. Discussion: The benefit of lateral positioning of adults and children with decreased level of consciousness has been widely accepted despite limited supportive scientific evidence. We here will provide direct evidence (i) whether venous drainage in the dependent limb is impaired when positioning the victim in the lateral recovery position with bent arms and (ii) whether this potential complication can be minimized by extending the dependent arm. The major limitations of this study is that healthy volunteers, instead of non-responsive victims, are included as participants, and that the study will be performed in a highly controlled environment. Nevertheless, the generated insights will directly fuel evidence-based treatment recommendations regarding the recovery position in first aid settings, and fill a current gap in evidence.

In this study, we aim to explore the feasibility of a novel, noninvasive SNO assay to acquire physiological SNO quantification from the human ear, forehead, or hands and test this new method of analysis. This study aims to help with the currently cumbersome and invasive procedures used to measure SNOs in the body. The proposed activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments.

Early prediction of outcomes after acute brain injury (ABI) remains a major unsolved problem. Presently, physicians make predictions using clinical examination, traditional scoring systems, and statistical models. In this study, we will use a novel technique, "SeeMe," to objectively assess the level of consciousness in patients suffering from comas following ABI. SeeMe is a program that quantifies total facial motion over time and compares the response after a spoken command (i.e. "open your eyes") to a pre-stimulus baseline.

The goal of this observational study is to examine the clinical presentations, the diagnostic tests performed and the management of patients presenting with transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) The main questions it aims to answer are: prevalence of TLOC prevalence of different diagnoses leading to TLOC Demographic, clinical, paraclinical and biological data will be collected from the emergency medical file

This study prospectively uses the biased coin technique to investigate the effect of concomitant administration of remifentanil on the 95% effective dose of intravenous remimazolam (Effective dose 95 [ED95]) required for loss of consciousness during anesthesia induction. .

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) can lead to cardiovascular, renal and neurological complications if left poorly-controlled over prolonged periods of time. However, lowering glycemic goals for diabetic patients increases their risk for hypoglycemia exposure. Hypoglycemia is associated with symptoms such as heart palpitations, fatigue, shakiness, anxiety, confusion, and blurred vision. Recurrent hypoglycemia leads to impairment of the body's autonomic and symptomatic responses to this condition, and can result in loss of awareness in the patient of the hypoglycemic state. Repeated incidences of hypoglycemia from loss of this awareness can result in even more hypoglycemic episodes and more severe outcomes, such as loss of consciousness, accidents, hospitalization and even death if left untreated. The aim of this study is to investigate whether adrenergic blockade through the use of low-dose carvedilol treatment can improve hypoglycemia awareness and the counterregulatory hormone responses to hypoglycemia in T1DM patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia.

St. Michael's Hospital (SMH) provides service to individuals with some of the most severe brain injuries and intensive care needs in Canada. These patients often require prolonged intensive care admissions, lengthy hospital stays, involvement of many health professionals, and long-term support for ongoing care requirements. Many hospitals face resource limitations, specifically involving the health disciplines and their ability to provide frequent intervention. It has been proposed that multisensory stimulation (i.e. exposing the patient to various sights, sounds, smells, etc.) in the early stages of brain injury recovery may result in improved responsiveness/cognitive function. Previous research has indicated a potential benefit for early multisensory stimulation intervention for patients with severe brain injury. However there is still not enough conclusive evidence to confirm whether the intervention is truly effective. The investigators are proposing a pilot randomized controlled study (placebo-controlled, double-blinded) to determine the feasibility and examine the effectiveness of early multisensory stimulation with patients following severe brain injury who remain in a coma, vegetative state, or minimally conscious state. Eligible patients will be randomized to a control group (standard care + family/caregiver education) or an intervention group (standard care + family/caregiver education + early sensory intervention). Data regarding number of patients enrolled, amount of intervention completed, percentage of outcome data collected, patient's level of responsiveness and cognitive function will be collected before and after the intervention period, using several outcome measures. The investigators hope to determine the feasibility of conducting this type of study within this clinical setting and the effectiveness of multisensory stimulation with this patient population.

The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) joint guidelines for post-resuscitation care recommend a multimodal approach to prognostication of neurological outcome. However, head computed tomography (CT) which is commonly used for predicting long-term neurological outcome after cardiac arrest has not yet been examined prospectively in a clinical trial. The primary purpose of the TTM-2 CT-substudy is to prospectively investigate and compare various methods of diagnosing generalized oedema on CT after cardiac arrest and it´s ability to predict long-term neurological outcome.

Low blood sugar is also called hypoglycemia. Usually, it is mild and can be treated quickly and easily by eating or drinking a small amount of a sugar-rich food. If low blood sugar is left untreated, it can get worse and cause confusion, clumsiness or fainting. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to seizures, coma, and even death. Some people with diabetes do not have early warning signs of low blood sugar. This condition is called hypoglycemia unawareness. It happens when the body stops reacting to low blood sugar levels and the person does not realize that they need to treat their hypoglycemia. This can lead to more severe and dangerous hypoglycemia. The purpose of this early study is to see if a drug called naltrexone should be studied more in people with Type I diabetes and hypoglycemia unawareness. This study will show whether naltrexone could reduce hypoglycemia unawareness. The study will also show, by using magnetic resonance imaging (also called MRI), whether naltrexone changes the way blood flows in the brain when a person is experiencing hypoglycemia.