31 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This study tests a pilot educational sleep intervention for children after critical care hospitalization.
The objective in this project is to assemble a consortium of pediatric critical care centers of varying size, acuity, and composition to evaluate our glycemic control protocol on at least 250 children with hyperglycemia in different critical care units. \*\*\*This Study is supported by an R21 Grant (MRR) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
This is a multi-site study of how nutrition is delivered to critically ill patients in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) around the world. Each site will include mechanically ventilated children in their respective PICUs and record the details of what type and amount of nutrition was received. These details will be compared to goals designated by the clinicians caring for each patient. Data will be entered in a secure online remote data capture tool and managed by the lead researchers in Pediatric Critical Care Nutrition at Boston Children's Hospital, Nilesh Mehta, MD and Lori Bechard, PhD, RD. Data will be analyzed to better understand how different types and amounts of nutrition impact important PICU outcomes such as length of stay, ventilator time, incidence of infections, and mortality.
The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and acceptability of a tool to support decision making for parents of critically ill infants.
Critically ill adolescents are at greatest risk for developing hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism. To date, no phase 3 randomized controlled trials have been conducted for pharmacological thromboprophylaxis as primary venous thromboembolism prevention in children. The investigators will perform a United States definitive multicenter phase 3 randomized controlled trial of the low molecular weight heparin dalteparin as primary venous thromboembolism prophylaxis among critically ill adolescents who are classified a priori as high risk based upon the investigators validated risk prediction models.
This study is a Phase 3, multi-center, Bayesian Adaptive Sequential Platform Trial testing the effectiveness of different prehospital airway management strategies in the care of critically ill children. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies affiliated with the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) will participate in the trial. The study interventions are strategies of prehospital airway management: \[BVM-only\], \[BVM followed by SGA\] and \[BVM followed by ETI\]. The primary outcome is 30-day ICU-free survival. The trial will be organized and executed in two successive stages. In Stage I of the trial, EMS personnel will alternate between two strategies: \[BVM-only\] or \[BVM followed by SGA\]. The \[winner of Stage I\] will advance to Stage II based upon results of Bayesian interim analyses. In Stage II of the trial, EMS personnel will alternate between \[BVM followed by ETI\] vs. \[Winner of Stage I\].
Admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is well-recognized to be extremely distressing and stressful for the patient and family. As medical research and technology have advanced more and more children in the PICU are surviving, however in turn incurring new and persistent impairments across physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains of health. This phenomenon is often referred to as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). These impairments not only impact the patient but parents have also been found to have poor emotional health outcomes following discharge from the PICU. Consistently, parents/caregivers of children admitted to the PICU report their primary concerns to be 1) the overwhelming physical environment of the PICU, 2) uncertainty about the child's survivorship and outcomes, 3) relationships and communication with staff, and 4) feeling helpless. Additionally, research has shown that caregiver-perceived stress during the child's hospitalization positively predicts post-traumatic stress three months after discharge for parents/caregivers (Nelson et al., 2019), which may translate into higher risk and duration of post-traumatic stress in their children. Therefore, providing an in-hospital outlet such as a "PICU Journal" for patients and families to express their subjective experiences may help bridge the gap between perception and reality as a means of buffering against post-traumatic responses. Conceptually, a semi-structured journal intervention may integrate the therapeutic aspects of journaling while also providing pertinent information and serving as an advocacy and communication tool. Prior research has demonstrated the use of a "PICU Journal" is feasible for implementation and has been well-received by families of children in the PICU (Herrup et al., 2019). Therefore, the aims of this mixed-method study are to 1) examine the relationship between this journaling intervention and the perceived stress, care engagement, symptoms of anxiety, and depression, and the development of PICS in parents of children hospitalized in the PICU, and 2) examine the relationship between parent participation in this intervention and the development of PICS-p in children, and 3) assess the feasibility of this intervention from key stakeholders.
This is a study of mechanically ventilated pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) teenage patients and the effects of the medication dexmedetomidine on sleep, delirium, and sedation level. The Investigators will assess sleep with an 8 lead polysomnogram study and increase the medication at night for one night to see if the sleep architecture changes. The Investigators will assess their sleep with our unit's sedation protocol for an additional night.
Multidisciplinary experts from two Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs), used an iterative modified Delphi process to develop and refine criteria for determining PICU patients for whom a family care conference would be beneficial. In this study the investigators will assess the use of those criteria as a trigger to offer parents of PICU patients a family care conference.
Admission into a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a highly stressful experience for child and family. High levels of stress can negatively impact outcomes, yet non-pharmacological interventions to decrease stress in the PICU are severely lacking. This is a prospective, single-arm feasibility trial that will explore the feasibility and acceptability of a music therapy intervention to decrease stress in the PICU among families of children receiving invasive or noninvasive mechanical ventilation. Objectives: The aims of this study are to: 1) Assess the feasibility of implementing a music therapy intervention in the PICU among children receiving invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation; 2) Determine the acceptability of the music therapy intervention in the ICU among caregivers, patients, and pediatric and cardiac ICU staff; 3) Explore the variability in child and caregiver stress outcomes throughout ICU admission. Hypothesis: The music therapy intervention will be feasible, as determined by recruitment, retention, protocol adherence, and data collection rates, and will be acceptable to participants and to PICU staff. Sample: This study will recruit 20 families that include children aged 2 months - 17 years old admitted with an expected length of ICU stay greater than 72 hours. Of these 20 families, the investigators will specifically recruit 10 families whose child is admitted for a hypoxic brain injury. Eligible children are receiving either noninvasive mechanical ventilation (i.e., continuous or bilevel positive airway pressure), invasive mechanical ventilation, or have an established tracheostomy tube and with escalated support settings. One primary caregiver will be enrolled along with the child admitted into the ICU.
This study aims to improve communication between medical teams, patients, and families in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit. The researchers hypothesize that both improving interprofessional teamwork when preparing for family meeting and preparing families for these meetings will improve team and family satisfaction with communication. The study will involve bringing together a group of medical professionals and parents of patients to collaboratively design an intervention. In addition, the researchers will study feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and whether it impacts family and team outcomes.
The objective of this study is to administer music therapy to patients in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in order to observe how music affects patient agitation, vital signs, and overall recovery in the unit.
This is a randomized control trial of PICU patients admitted for 7 days and expected to remain for at least another 3 days and who have a complex chronic condition. Patients will be randomized to usual care or usual care plus a primary intensivist and group of primary nurses (to facilitate passing of important patient information and informed, expedited decision-making). The primary research question is whether having a primary intensivist and nurses decreases PICU length of stay.
The objective of this study is to look at critical events in the pediatric operating room in a retrospective and now prospective fashion to determine if there are any trends such as age, presence of URI, type of surgery, type of airway, level of hands on provider, or other predictive markers associated these events so that we may gain some insight into perhaps reducing the incidence of these events or simply be more attune to the increased risks in certain situations.
Gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction affects up to 50% of medical and surgical critically ill children. GI dysfunction, specifically gastric dysmotility and loss of epithelial barrier integrity, is associated with significant morbidity in critical illness. The mechanisms underlying GI dysfunction in critical illness are not well understood. GI dysfunction in surgery and critical illness has been associated with inflammation. There is evidence to suggest the protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) is a link between inflammation and GI dysfunction. PAR2 is a G-coupled receptor present throughout the GI tract. PAR2 mediates GI motility and epithelial barrier integrity. PAR2 is activated by PAR2 agonists, specifically GI serine proteases and zonulin, released under conditions of inflammation. In this study the investigators will examine the relationship between inflammation and PAR2 activation by PAR2 agonists and subsequent GI dysfunction in pediatric critically ill surgical patients. The overall hypothesis of this study is that PAR2 activation by PAR2 agonists, GI serine proteases and zonulin, released due to inflammation results in gastric dysmotility and loss of epithelial barrier integrity. In this study, the investigators will examine whether PAR2 agonist expression is increased and correlates with GI dysfunction in critically ill surgical pediatric patients. This proposal fills a knowledge gap in the understanding of mechanisms for GI dysfunction in critical illness, and will be applicable to all surgical and medical critically ill children.
This study will implement and evaluate the effects of a pediatric continuity care intensivist program. This study will determine the impact of an additional pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) intensivist on outcomes at the patient and family level. It will also evaluate the training program to prepare the continuity care intensivist (CCI).
Critically ill children have abnormal utilization of nutrients such as glucose, lipids and protein. Protein synthesis is increased mainly in the form of immune and signaling proteins, while synthesis of muscle and structural proteins is decreased. The metabolism of sulfur amino acids and specifically methionine and cysteine have not been investigated in critically ill septic children, despite that sulfur amino acids have important roles on thiol, antioxidant and epigenetic reactions, as well as precursor of glutathione (GSH). Methionine metabolism in critically ill children will be influenced by its rate of utilization through the transmethylation, remethylation and transsulfuration pathways, which are the major pathways of methionine metabolism. The investigators study aims to investigate the metabolism of methionine and cysteine in parenterally fed critically ill septic children. The investigators aim to determine the rates of transmethylation, remethylation, transsulfuration and GSH synthesis rates in critically ill septic children, to determine in vivo, whole body sulfur amino acid metabolism when sulfur amino acids are supplied by the parenteral route. The objective is to determine whether current parenteral intakes support GSH synthesis and if methionine metabolism differs when supplied by the parenteral versus the enteral route. Methionine parenteral requirements will be also studied by using the indicator amino acid oxidation and balance technique.
Critically ill children have abnormal utilization of nutrients such as glucose, lipids and protein. Often sick children have increased glucose concentrations in blood. However, the origin of the high glucose has not been determined in these populations. There is a close interrelationship between protein and energy metabolism. An increase in the energy supply will not promote nitrogen retention unless the amino acid supply is adequate, and conversely, an increased amino acid supply will be useless if energy is limiting, hence the importance of adequate protein and energy intake. Our study aims to investigate the protein-energy interactions in critically ill septic children and adolescents with the objective to eventually provide the best nutritional support for these patients.
Critically ill children have abnormal utilization of nutrients such as glucose, lipids and protein. Protein synthesis is increased mainly in the form of immune and signaling proteins, while muscle and structural protein synthesis is decreased. The metabolism of sulfur amino acids through the splanchnic area and specifically methionine and cysteine have not been investigated in critically ill septic children, despite that sulfur amino acids have important roles in thiol, antioxidant and epigenetic reactions. Methionine metabolism in sick children will be influenced by its rate of utilization through different pathways. Our study aims to investigate the metabolism of methionine and cysteine when both amino acids are given by the enteral route in critically ill septic children. The investigators are focused on the rates of transmethylation, remethylation and transsulfuration in critically ill septic children, and if the current standard nutrition maintains methionine nutritional balance and functional requirements in critically ill children fed by the enteral route.
Research studies in adults have shown that certain hormones may be decreased or may not work normally which contributes to how sick a person becomes. The purpose of this project is to study hormones in children. The investigators will look to see if a decrease of certain hormone levels affects how sick a child may become. This study is intended to develop a connection between hormone levels and severity of illness. It is hoped that the information gathered will help develop further studies that may more clearly explain the role of hormones in critically ill children and possibly the introduction of hormone replacement in critical illness.
The purpose of this study is to see how fast and accurate two different techniques used by physicians to insert catheters in children are. Catheters are tiny tubes which carry fluids, blood and sometimes liquid food into a person's vein. The technique currently used relies on the physical landmarks and using fingers to feel the anatomy in which to place the catheter in the vein or artery. The investigators are changing to a technique where they will use ultrasound at the patient's bedside to help physicians with placing the catheter into the blood vessel. They are comparing the use of these two methods to determine which is faster and requires fewer needle sticks.
The purpose of this two-year project is to pilot test an intervention to change sedation management in pediatric patients supported on mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). While ensuring patient comfort is an integral part of pediatric critical care, analgesic and sedative use in this patient population is associated with injury; specifically, comfort medications may depress spontaneous ventilation and prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation. Additionally, drug tolerance develops over time and may precipitate iatrogenic abstinence syndrome (chemical withdrawal) when the patient no longer requires sedation. Alternatively, suboptimal comfort management contributes to the patient not breathing synchronously with the ventilator and/or self-removal of breathing tubes. Our group has developed and validated a nurse-implemented sedation algorithm (set of specific instructions) to guide titration of comfort medications that may optimize patient comfort and reduce the risk of under-medication, but this algorithm needs to be evaluated further. We hypothesize that pediatric patients managed per sedation protocol will experience fewer days of mechanical ventilation than patients receiving usual care. This research has the potential of revolutionizing sedation practices that are driven by and synchronized to patient needs.
The CR-AZI Study will assess the immunomodulatory effects of Azithromycin for pediatric Critical Asthma.
Previous research has shown that most parents would allow their child's leftover blood to be included in a de-identified biorepository using opt-out consent in an outpatient setting. In a pilot study to evaluate Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) parents' preferences and comprehension of a written opt-in consent to include their child's sample in a biorepository, the investigators showed 19% of parents did not agree to participate in the Biobank, more than the 8.7% reported in other settings. Parent comprehension varied. and the investigators also noted differential enrollment by sociodemographic factors. Critically ill children and their parents are vulnerable; seeking consent for non-therapeutic research in critical care requires special consideration. Therefore, the goal of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of a stakeholder influenced (parent, clinical research professionals) video aided consent will improve comprehension and rates of enrollment across diverse groups in this high intensity setting.
This study is designed to help decide how much intravenous (IV) fluid should be given to pediatric trauma patients. No standard currently exists for managing fluids in critically ill pediatric trauma patients, and many fluid strategies are now in practice. For decades, trauma patients got high volumes of IV fluid. Recent studies in adults show that patients actually do better by giving less fluid. The investigators do not know if this is true in children and this study is designed to answer that question and provide guidelines for IV fluid management in children after trauma.
This study evaluates the effects of either Pediasure or Nourish formulas on the gastrointestinal microbiome in critically-ill children. Patients will be randomized to received either Pediasure or Nourish.
The purpose of this study is to compare the accuracy and precision of two non-invasive methods of measuring cardiac output in critically ill children (\<18 yrs). The participants will include any patient admitted to Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) requiring a trans-thoracic ECHO (TTE) as part of their treatment plan. Measurements of intermittent cardiac output will be obtained and compared on participants using standard 2-D TTE and Ultrasound Cardiac Output Monitor (USCOM).
While mortality in U.S. pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) is improving, surviving children frequently develop persistent physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments. Over half of critically ill children experience potentially preventable PICU-acquired morbidities, with mechanically ventilated children being at greatest risk. In critically ill adults, randomized trials have shown that progressive mobility, started early (within 3 days of initiating mechanical ventilation), decreases muscle weakness and the duration of mechanical ventilation. However, similar randomized studies have not been conducted in the PICU. The investigator's prior studies revealed that less than 10 percent of critically ill children at the highest risk of functional decline are evaluated by a physical or occupational therapist within 3 days of PICU admission. Given the interplay of sedation, delirium, sleep, and immobility in the PICU, single-component interventions, such as sedation protocolization, have not consistently shown benefit for decreasing mechanical ventilation duration. Thus, the investigators developed the first pediatric-specific, interprofessional intervention (PICU Up!) to integrate goal-directed sedation, delirium prevention, sleep promotion, and family engagement into daily PICU care in order to facilitate early and progressive mobility. The investigators have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of this pragmatic, multifaceted strategy in both single-site and multicenter pilot studies. Hence, the next phase of the investigators research is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and delivery of the PICU Up! intervention across a range of PICU patients and health systems. The investigators propose a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster randomized controlled trial that will include 10 academic and community hospitals in the United States, with the following Aims: 1) Evaluate if the PICU Up! intervention, delivered under real-world conditions, decreases mechanical ventilation duration (primary outcome) and improves delirium and functional status compared to usual care in critically ill children; and 2) Conduct a multi-stakeholder, mixed-methods process evaluation to identify key contextual factors associated with delivery of PICU Up!. If proven effective, the PICU Up! intervention has potential to profoundly change medical care in the PICU and substantially impact public health by improving outcomes for the growing number of pediatric survivors of critical illness.
Sleep wake disturbances compound recovery in over half of pediatric traumatic brain injury survivors, leading to impaired quality of life, and few effective interventions exist to treat this important morbidity. Therefore, this study will conduct a randomized controlled trial evaluating a melatonin intervention started during hospitalization and continued after discharge compared to placebo. The trial will investigate if this intervention is feasible, acceptable, and effective at reducing sleep wake disturbances as measured on the Sleep Disturbances Scale for Children 1-month after hospital discharge. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive the intervention (melatonin) or to the control group (placebo) with a goal of equal numbers of participants in each group and all will receive sleep education. Participants will be followed closely after consent and outcomes will be assessed at hospital discharge, and 1-month. Outcomes will focus on feasibility (ability to recruit patients into the trial) and acceptability (patient safety and satisfaction), but will also assess the effectiveness of the intervention to reduce sleep disturbances after discharge. The investigators will assess sleep using questionnaires and actigraphy (watch-like activity monitors). Exploratory outcomes will include global health outcomes.
Thousands of children die from Sepsis following routine infections. Many of these deaths can be prevented with earlier recognition and focused management. No tools are currently available to recognize the signs of early sepsis in children. The investigators have developed a electronic health record-based tool that will recognize children with sepsis early and trigger an alert to their hospital caregivers. The caregivers will be prompted to launch a focused management bundle that can stabilize these children, prevent further deterioration and reduce their chances of sepsis related complications and death. The proposed study will test the validity and effectiveness of this electronic tool in reducing sepsis mortality rates.