NCT02219659

Pilot Study on Pairing Sedation Strategies and Weaning

Comparing Strategies of Pairing Sedation and Weaning Protocols on Outcomes of Mechanical Ventilation: A Pilot Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 90 (actual)
• Sponsor: MemorialCare Health System · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

A three-arm, randomized, pilot study, to assess the feasibility for the analgesia-first sedation (AFS) study arm/intervention (Fentanyl push first). The study will assess additional outcomes for all three (3) validated strategies for sedation and pain management.

Detailed description

A three-arm, randomized, pilot study, to assess the feasibility for the analgesia-first sedation (AFS) study arm/intervention (Fentanyl push first). The study will assess additional outcomes for all three (3) validated strategies for sedation and pain management. A significant proportion of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) require mechanical ventilation (MV). To maintain comfort and facilitate quality care, large quantities of sedatives and analgesics are often administered either by continuous infusion, with or without daily interruption (DI) of sedation, or as intermittent doses of analgesics. Three validated sedation strategies are currently available. A recently published study ( trial has shown that instituting protocol-directed sedation in patients requiring continuous infusion of sedatives and analgesics, whether or not daily interruption (DI) of the sedative occurs, will improve MV outcomes, specifically the duration of MV. Girard et al performed a randomized, multicenter, clinical trial (ABC- Awakening and Breathing Controlled trial) evaluating the pairing of a spontaneous awakening trial (SAT) with an SBT. Most recently, a Danish study by Strom et al. investigated whether an analgesia-first approach to patient comfort that consisted of intermittent doses of intravenous opioids, and the initiation of IV sedation for short periods only when acute agitation was present, would be superior to a protocol similar to the ABC trial. While the three above mentioned approaches are accepted and currently implemented in the critical care community there is no comparative study or evaluation on the optimal timing to conduct a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) for assessing weaning readiness with each of these strategies. It is possible that a SAT strategy, where sedative and opioid infusions are interrupted, may lead to more agitation and anxiety than a strategy in patients managed with a sedation protocol where intravenous sedative and analgesic therapy is regularly titrated to maintain patients in a lightly sedated state. Moreover, it remains unclear whether analgesia-first strategy (AFS) is feasible and if there are advantages of AFS (Fentanyl push first interventions) over either an SAT or sedation protocol strategy in terms of the time it takes to wean patients from MV or ICU length of stay. However, it is noteworthy to mention that the analgesia-first strategy was associated with more delirium episodes, which were attributed to the ability to assess for it in a more awake patient. However, comparing delirium occurrence in studies with different sedation goals and methodologies may be inaccurate. The investigators therefore propose a three-arm, randomized clinical trial. This pilot study will measure feasibility for the implementation of analgesia-first sedation (AFS) study arm/intervention (Fentanyl push first). The study will assess additional outcomes for all three (3) validated strategies for sedation and pain management.

Conditions

• Acute Respiratory Failure

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Sedation Protocol with Daily Interruption	Continuous infusion of fentanyl and midazolam is started and titrated to target pain and RASS score: Fentanyl started at 25 mcg/hr titrated by 25 mcg/hr every 30 minutes to goal pain score; Midazolam started at 1 mg/hr titrated by 1 mg/hr every hour to goal RASS score for the study design duration (28 days) or for the duration of mechanical ventilation. Every morning both infusions are stopped and when the patient is awake and met the SBT safety screen, 120-min CPAP trial is performed. If the patient meets the CPAP passing criteria, arterial blood gas (ABG) is done and the patient is placed back to the previous ventilator setting. ABG result is notified to the physician for determination for extubation. If the patient does not pass the CPAP trial it is repeated next morning.
DRUG	Sedation Protocol Without Daily Interruption	Continuous infusion of fentanyl and midazolam is started and titrated to target pain and RASS score: Fentanyl started at 25 mcg/hr titrated by 25 mcg/hr every 30 minutes to goal pain score; Midazolam started at 1 mg/hr titrated by 1 mg/hr every hour to goal RASS score for the study design duration (28 days) or for the duration of mechanical ventilation. Every morning when the patient's RASS score is 0 to -2 and the patient passes the SBT safety screen, 120-min CPAP trial is performed. If the patient meets the CPAP passing criteria, arterial blood gas (ABG) is done and the patient is placed back to the previous ventilator setting. ABG result is notified to the physician for determination for extubation. If the patient does not pass the CPAP trial it is repeated next morning.
DRUG	Fentanyl Push First	Fentanyl 25 mcg intravenous push (IVP) every 5 min up to 4 doses hourly as needed to target pain score for the study design duration (28 days) or for the duration of mechanical ventilation. Every morning when patient's RASS is 0 to -2 and passes the SBT safety screen, 120-min CPAP trial is performed. If patient meets CPAP passing criteria, the physician will be notified for determination of extubation. If patient does not pass, it is repeated next morning. If target RASS is not achieved with fentanyl IV push alone, study team is notified and fentanyl infusion at 50 mcg/hr titrated by 25 mcg/hr every 30 min to target pain score (max 6 hrs). If target RASS score is not achieved with the fentanyl IV, propofol infusion is started at 5 mcg/kg/hr titrated by 5 mcg/kg/hr every 15 min to target RASS score (max 6 hrs).

Timeline

• Start date: 2014-12-01
• Primary completion: 2017-05-01
• Completion: 2018-05-18
• First posted: 2014-08-19
• Last updated: 2025-10-07
• Results posted: 2024-05-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States