Assessing normal bowel function and impact of bowel care medications in children in an intensive care setting

Prospective cohort pilot study of severely unwell children admitted to ICU, in relation to their normal bowel function and our application of the statewide bowel care protocol, assessing the effect on symptomatology and length of stay. Is a future non-interventional trial required?

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12613000810718

Enrollment

100

Registered

2013-07-24

Start date

2013-08-14

Completion date

2014-03-19

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Aims: We would like to describe what the normal bowel function is in severely unwell children who are managed in our intensive care unit. Our current management protocol is based on that from the Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, and we want to investigate the effectiveness, or not, of this protocol in our population. We hypothesise that it is normal for the gut to behave differently when unwell compared to in good health, and that management strategies may lead to over-treatment and potential longer hospital stay. This is previously unpublished in children's intensive care literature. Research design: This is a prospective, observational study involving no deviation from current treatment received in our unit. This is a pilot study, which may lead on to a larger multi-centre trial to be run by a larger research group, such as ANZICS CTG, which would investigate the effect of non-intervention in those with slower bowel function, rather than escalating intervention. Methods: We will approach all admissions to our unit to be enrolled in this study. Participation will involve no change to management, only completion of the study questionnaire by the researcher every day until hospital discharge. Results will then be analysed prior to publication.

Interventions

We are describing the normal bowel function in critically unwell children, which is currently unpublished. We are applying standard care using the Queensland Health PICU Bowel Care protocol. The duration of observation is from the patient's intensive care admission until hospital discharge.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

0 to 16 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

All children admitted to our Intensive Care Unit

Exclusion criteria

Adults, or being managed by an Adult Specialty team.

Outcome results