Chest Physiotherapy and instilled Saline - a feasibility study

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Efficacy of instilled saline in conjunction with chest Physiotherapy on Secretion clearance in adults diagnosed with a Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia: a feasibility trial

• IRAS ID

  318205

• Contact name

  Nikolaos Efstathiou

• Contact email

  N.Efstathiou@bham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Birmingham

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 6 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Many patients in intensive care units (ICU) need help to breathe from a breathing machine (ventilator) as part of their medical treatment. Whilst using a ventilator is an important part of their treatment, some patients will develop a lung infection known as a ventilator acquired pneumonia (VAP). Patients who develop a VAP will produce a lot of secretions (mucus) which can often be thick and difficult to clear. This can make breathing more difficult and cause patients to spend longer on the ventilator and longer on critical care and in hospital.
  
  To help clear secretions, chest physiotherapy is regularly provided to patients whilst they remain on the ventilator. Chest physiotherapy involves positioning the patient and shaking their chest to help loosen secretions before a suction tube is used to remove them. This will improve the patient’s ability to breath. As part of this treatment, physiotherapists will often use water (saline) put down the breathing tube which then goes down onto the lungs to help loosen secretions. However we do not know if the use of saline really helps clear these thick secretions.

  In our trial we want to know if using saline increases the amount of secretions cleared during chest physiotherapy compared to when it is not. We also want to know if the use of saline during chest physiotherapy can improve other important outcomes during a patient's hospital stay such as days spent on the ventilator and days spent in ICU and hospital. However, before we can answer this question we want to know if it is possible to run this study. We therefore want to know if patients are happy to take part in the trial and that it is safe to do so.

• REC name

  East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  22/EE/0284

• Date of REC Opinion

  1 Feb 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion