Mechanical Ventilation Clinical Trials

Ventilator associated events (VAE) is a quality metric defined by 48 hours of stability followed by 48 hours of escalation of ventilator settings within the ICU. VAE have been associated with poor outcomes and increases the cost of care, yet is not easy to avoid. Operationalizing all the standards of care known to improve outcomes of those requiring mechanical ventilation in the critical care environment requires a comprehensive approach. ICU teams are encouraged to follow best practice protocols to help liberate and prevent VAEs. Yet, compliance with protocols in most ICUs is suboptimal for multiple reasons. With the advent of computerized mechanical ventilators capable of streaming data from breath to breath and biomedical integration systems (BMDI) such as Capsule (UTMB's BMDI system), software systems have been developed to help identify variances in the standard of care. Automation in near real-time ventilator data feedback has been shown to reduce the incidences of VAEs. This quality improvement project will leverage Vyaire's Respiratory Knowledge Portal (RKP) to collect and store meaningful data regarding ventilator-associated events (VAE), alarm policy compliance, ventilator weaning, and lung protective analytics. Goals: 1. To collect quality metrics utilizing RKP from patients requiring mechanical ventilation over a 3-4-month period for a retrospective baseline analysis. 2. Provide the RKP tool to the ICU team to determine if the use of RKP's webportal and Messenger Zebra phone app improves quality of mechanical ventilation and outcomes. 3. To determine a return on investment (ROI) for a software system like RKP. Read Less

This prospective, unblinded, pilot randomized cross-over trial of 2 modes of mechanical ventilation will compare measures of pulmonary mechanics, respiratory gas exchange, and patient comfort between conventional flow triggered mechanical ventilation and neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) among 20 prematurely born infants and young children receiving invasive respiratory support for severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Read Less

A study to observe the effect of variations in ventilator settings including tidal volume and PEEP on transpulmonary pressure monitored with an esophageal balloon catheter and to correlate intraoperative transpulmonary pressure variations and intraoperative stroke volume variation changes. Read Less

This is a clinical trial to compare the oxygenation and ventilation performance between manual ventilation and mechanical ventilation when transporting cardiac patients to the ICU. Read Less

One challenge with decision making for mechanically ventilated is that their prognosis is often uncertain. The ProVent-14 score incorporates clinical variables measured on the 14th day of mechanical ventilation to predict risk of death in one year. The ProVent-14 is easy to calculate has been externally validated. However, it is unclear how often clinicians use the ProVent-14 score to predict long-term outcomes for patients requiring 14 days of mechanical ventilation or if it helps clinicians make more accurate predictions. The purpose of this study is to determine whether ICU clinicians who receive a patient's ProVent-14 score make more accurate predictions for mortality at one year than ICU clinicians who do not. Read Less

The investigators will screen all mechanically ventilated ED patients for study eligibility and will enroll all consecutive patients satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study design is a pragmatic, multicenter, stepped wedge cluster randomized trial, enrolling at five sites over a 3-year period, divided into six time periods of six months. Prior to the study, each site will be randomized to their position within the design. One site will cross to the intervention period (i.e. succinylcholine as default neuromuscular blocker) every six months from the 2nd to 6th time period. Cluster order will be determined by computer-based randomization. To begin, each site will be exposed to control conditions; by the end of the study, each site will be exposed to intervention conditions. Patients in the control phase will receive usual care, and this phase will be entirely observational. After six months, a site will enter a 2-month transition phase. In this phase, the investigators will implement the intervention, similar to how they have implemented other ED-based interventions for mechanically ventilated patients. The investigators will engage and educate ED clinicians on the importance of AWP prevention and the study objectives. The intervention framework relies on the use of "nudges", without restricting choice. The use of neuromuscular blockers (i.e. "paralytic" medications) is already part of routine care in the ED in order to facilitate endotracheal intubation and initiation of mechanical ventilation for patients with acute respiratory failure. The two most common neuromuscular blockers used in the ED are succinylcholine and rocuronium. The preliminary data show a strong association between rocuronium (a longer-acting neuromuscular blocker) use and AWP. Therefore, this study aims to improve care by educating caregivers on AWP and the use of the neuromuscular blockers, which are already routinely used, and studying that process in a rigorous fashion. The default neuromuscular blocker in the intervention phase will be succinylcholine. Succinylcholine will be the default over rocuronium because: 1) it has safely been the default neuromuscular blocker of choice in the ED for >40 years ; 2) its 5-minute duration of action greatly reduces AWP risk; 3) the preliminary data regarding an increased risk of AWP with rocuronium and 4) ED rocuronium use has increased despite no patient-centered studies showing benefit over succinylcholine. Passive alerts (i.e. graphics, pocket cards) will also be strategically placed in the ED, and active alerts will be used as reminders before every nursing shift (i.e. "the huddle"). After this transition phase, the site will begin the intervention phase, and patients will again receive clinician-directed care, just after the intervention. Read Less

The overarching aim of this proposal is to examine the feasibility of the Q-NRG+ indirect calorimetry device and its agreement with (Vmax) Encore indirect calorimetry device in mechanically ventilated children. The overall hypothesis of this study is that the Q-NRG+ will provide minute-to-minute oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (CO2) measurements that are in agreement with those obtained by the standard indirect calorimetry device currently used at our institution (Vmax Encore). Read Less

The study's aim is to ascertain the best approach for providing sedation and pain management for patients who have sustained trauma and are requiring respiratory support from a mechanical ventilator. The common approach to patients who need mechanical ventilation is to provide continuous drips of sedatives and pain medicine and awaken the patient once a day to check the brain functions. Another approach is to provide pain medicine and reserve sedatives for only a short duration when needed. The difference between approaches has not been studied in Trauma patients. Read Less

Randomized controlled trial to establish evidence on which to base timing of enteral feeding after bedside PEG placement in ventilated Trauma and Surgical ICU patients. Read Less