Patient Centered Sedation Outcomes in Mechanically Ventilated Trauma Patients
In many patients who endure severe physical trauma, mechanical ventilation is required to assist the body with breathing. This process requires being intubated in which a breathing tube is placed through a patient’s airway and then connected to a ventilator. Due to the tube placement and the various sedative medications that a patient typically receives, it has been found that there is difficulty in patient-provider communications as a result of the blocked vocal pathway. As a result, patients struggle or are unable to communicate their needs, their comfort level, and any other verbal indications. This state of inability to relay their needs can cause mental trauma and distress in the individual if prolonged.
The purpose of our study is to assess the degree in which these mechanically ventilated trauma patients are uncomfortable or experience other negative impacts as a result of mechanical intubation. There are two facets to this particular protocol. Patients in the multi-trauma critical care unit are recruited based on their injury type and categorized as such: those with traumatic brain injuries and those with non-traumatic brain injuries or multi-trauma. We aim to find individuals who have been placed on the ventilator for at least 24 hours and have been extubated for no more than 48 hours. This is to ensure that the patients were intubated for sufficient time and extubated recently enough that they can recall their experience. We exclude patients who have spinal cord injuries or require tracheostomy as these are confounding variables that affect patient comfort. Upon screening and qualifying for the study, our members locate and interview patients to gather information regarding their experience. Separate surveys are utilized depending on the injury type that a patient sustained.
This study has a follow-up portion in which individuals are called 90 days after their discharge from UMMC to determine how well they return to usual activities since sustaining their injuries and receiving treatment. We utilize the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE) to quantify this.
We plan to recruit 200 trauma patients requiring mechanical ventilation, 100 of whom sustain TBIs and 100 of whom are classified as multi-trauma patients (non-TBI).
In many patients who endure severe physical trauma, mechanical ventilation is required to assist the body with breathing. This process requires being intubated in which a breathing tube is placed through a patient’s airway and then connected to a ventilator. Due to the tube placement and the various sedative medications that a patient typically receives, it has been found that there is difficulty in patient-provider communications as a result of the blocked vocal pathway. As a result, patients struggle or are unable to communicate their needs, their comfort level, and any other verbal indications. This state of inability to relay their needs can cause mental trauma and distress in the individual if prolonged.
The purpose of our study is to assess the degree in which these mechanically ventilated trauma patients are uncomfortable or experience other negative impacts as a result of mechanical intubation. There are two facets to this particular protocol. Patients in the multi-trauma critical care unit are recruited based on their injury type and categorized as such: those with traumatic brain injuries and those with non-traumatic brain injuries or multi-trauma. We aim to find individuals who have been placed on the ventilator for at least 24 hours and have been extubated for no more than 48 hours. This is to ensure that the patients were intubated for sufficient time and extubated recently enough that they can recall their experience. We exclude patients who have spinal cord injuries or require tracheostomy as these are confounding variables that affect patient comfort. Upon screening and qualifying for the study, our members locate and interview patients to gather information regarding their experience. Separate surveys are utilized depending on the injury type that a patient sustained.
This study has a follow-up portion in which individuals are called 90 days after their discharge from UMMC to determine how well they return to usual activities since sustaining their injuries and receiving treatment. We utilize the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE) to quantify this.
We plan to recruit 200 trauma patients requiring mechanical ventilation, 100 of whom sustain TBIs and 100 of whom are classified as multi-trauma patients (non-TBI).