4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This project aims to answer whether the use of a Neurally-Adjusted Ventilatory Assistance mode for non-invasive ventilation in pediatric patients with bronchiolitis results in improved comfort and reduced escalations in therapy (including intubation) when compared to using a standard mode of non-invasive ventilation. Neurally-Adjusted Ventilatory Assistance (NAVA) has been shown to result in greater synchrony then the standard mode of non-invasive ventilation. The study team hypothesizes that this improved synchrony can result in important clinical improvements when NAVA is used to treat children with bronchiolitis.
This research study is being done to investigate the effect of changing an infant's body position on how hard the baby works to breathe, the baby's oxygen level, the baby's carbon dioxide level, the baby's lung volume, the baby's lung compliance (ability of the lung to expand and fill with air), and how frequently the baby develops clinically significant events such as apnea (baby stops breathing on his own), bradycardia (low heart rate), and desaturation (low oxygen) events.
Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is an FDA approved mode of mechanical ventilation. This mode of ventilation is currently in routine use in adult, pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. The electrical activity of the diaphragm, the largest muscle used during inspiration, is measured. The ventilator triggers (synchronizes patient effort) and applies proportional assistance based on measured electrical activity of the diaphragm (Edi). This electrical activity is measured through a feeding tube that also has a multiple-array esophageal electrode in it. This mode of ventilation has been proven to be equivalent to pressure support ventilation (PSV). Theoretically, the breath-to-breath control offered by NAVA may not only trigger faster and synchronize better, but provide the support deemed appropriate by the central nervous center on demand. Traditionally in the intensive care unit (ICU), pressure support is applied to subject breathing spontaneously. Pressure is set to achieve a given tidal volume. The influence of changing lung compliance not only from the lung disease itself, but the interactions of the respiratory muscles can drastically change minute ventilation and contribute to hyper- or hypoventilation. These changes are typically found on assessment of end-tidal carbon dioxide (CO2), blood gas, or oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring; all of which are potentially preventable if we allowed the central nervous system to control the ventilator. NAVA may allow us to couple the central nervous system (neuro-coupling) with the ventilator to provide real-time proportional assistance, reduce work of breathing and apply physiologic breathing patterns.
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).