STARSHIP v 3
Research type
Research Database
IRAS ID
321960
Contact name
Shruti Agrawal
Contact email
Research summary
Studying Trends of Auto-Regulation in Severe Head Injury in Paediatrics (STARSHIP)
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SW/0011
Date of REC Opinion
3 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion
Data collection arrangements
In this projct, we aim to collect data from children with severe traumatic brain injury from 10 Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) throughout the UK. Consecutive traumatic brain injury patients with a clinical need for intracranial and arterial blood pressure monitoring will be included for data collection.
Routinely monitored physiological data like waveforms of intracranial pressure (ICP), arterial blood pressure (ABP) and electro-cardiogram (ECG) are collected from PICU bed-side monitors using relevant, monitor type specific, data export protocols implemented in a software (ICM+) running on a bed-side laptop and commenced at the nearest possible opportunity after the patient has been transferred to the tertiary setting. The monitoring is terminated when sedation is lifted and the child either begins to waken or dies.The same software will be later used for the retrospective analysis of all stored signals. The relevant demographic and clinical data elements for the study like age, gender, relevant details of current and past injury, presentation, treatment for traumatic brain injury (medical & surgical), brain imaging, and relevant intensive care treatments and laboratory analyses are collected as per the protocol.Research programme
Children have devastating impact from traumatic brain injury. Despite that, there is little understanding of disease pathophysiology in paediatric age group. The purpose of this project is to investigate how children’s brain responds to injury. The current treatment involves managing physiological parameters in PICU to limit secondary brain insults. We will collect routinely monitored physiological data in PICU and analyse it by using algorithms developed in adults to understand how an injured brain regulates its blood supply. This may help us to develop individualized treatment targets for children with similar brain injuries to help improve outcome. By adopting a real-time analysis of physiology, we will be able to identify patterns of dangerous dynamic changes in the paediatric population which may be different to our current management approach. Our pilot work has identified important differences in the characteristics of pathology compared to adults. Only by replicating this in a large multi-centre trial will we be able to influence management guidelines. Lack of sufficient evidence base for management of severe traumatic brain injury in children makes this study pertinent by contributing significantly to the scientific understanding of brain physiology in this disease.
Research database title
Studying Trends of Auto-Regulation in Severe Head Injury in Paediatrics (STARSHIP)
Establishment organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals
Establishment organisation address
Addenbrookes Hospital
Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ