None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Respiratory tract secretions are often increased in volume and density in patients requiring invasive ventilatory support, and can block airways leading to impaired gas exchange. Acetylcysteine is a medication known to lead to thinning of respiratory secretions, when given both orally and when inhaled. It is therefore sometimes used in ICU, but with no clear evidence providing clinical benefit in intubated ICU patients Our hypothesis is that inhaled acetylcysteine will lead to improved oxygen levels by aiding removal of excess respiratory secretions.
Interventions
Nebulisation via ventilator circuit (or high flow circuit for tracheostomy patients) of 4ml of 20% acetylcysteine + 4ml of 0.9% NaCl until discontinuation of invasive respiratory support. Administration will be repeated every 6 hours for 48 hours
Adherence will be monitored by auditing drug charts
Sponsors
Waikato Hospital
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Receiving invasive ventilation and with moderate to high secretion burden
Exclusion criteria
Duration of invasive ventilation anticipated to be < 24 hours Acute asthma exacerbation Pregnancy Known intolerance to study drug
Outcome results
None listed