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Reducing Reintubation Risk in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery Patients With High-Flow Nasal Cannula

Reducing Reintubation Risk in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery Patients With High-Flow Nasal Cannula

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04782817
Enrollment
3568
Registered
2021-03-04
Start date
2021-11-01
Completion date
2026-04-14
Last updated
2026-04-20

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

Conditions

Cardiovascular Surgical Procedure, Intubation

Keywords

High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy, Reintubation

Brief summary

The iCAN trial is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial that aims to test the hypothesis that HFNC versus usual care oxygenation strategies applied immediately after initial extubation after cardiac surgery decreases the all-cause 48-hour reintubation rate (extubation failure within 48 hours of initial extubation).

Detailed description

HFNC may be employed as a strategy to facilitate early extubation and prevent reintubation of patients following cardiac surgery. HFNC is routinely employed by providers in the cardiovascular intensive care unit along with other therapies, including: bi-level positive airway pressure, non-rebreather masks, among others. Currently, no high-quality clinical data exist to demonstrate that HFNC may decrease the risk of reintubation in this critically-ill adult population. This prospective, randomized, pragmatic clinical trial will compare HFNC to provider choice of usual care in these high-risk patients. Randomization will occur at the time that the patient is deemed ready for extubation by the attending physician in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. Through randomization, patients will be assigned one of two physician order sets in the electronic medical record system: standard order set with or without recommendation for the use of HFNC. Reintubation and outcome data will be collected until patient discharge.

Interventions

OTHERRecommendation for high flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy order set

Participants will be assigned post extubation physician order set which recommends the administration of oxygen therapy via HFNC. HFNC is a heated and humidified system that allows prescribed fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) levels to be delivered at very high flow rates.

OTHERProvider choice standard care order set

Participants will receive order set with provider choice of standard care therapy.

Sponsors

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥18 years * Undergoing cardiac surgery, defined as a documented surgical service of "cardiac surgery" in the electronic health record, performed in the main operating rooms at Vanderbilt University Medical Center * Admitted to the cardiovascular intensive care unit postoperatively with an endotracheal tube in place and mechanically ventilated * Surgery duration (documented time between "Anesthesia start" and "Anesthesia stop" in the EHR) of at least 180 minutes * Received an order to be extubated by a treating provider o Patients who meet all other criteria but do not receive an order to extubate will be randomized but not enrolled

Exclusion criteria

• Patient does not meet inclusion criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Reintubation within 48 hours of extubation48 hoursReintubation within 48 hours of initial extubation after cardiac surgery

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Reintubation within 72 hours of extubation72 hoursReintubation within 72 hours of initial extubation after cardiac surgery
Reintubation after cardiac surgeryhospital discharge (usually 14 days)Reintubation at any time during hospitalization after cardiac surgery
All cause mortality30 days post surgery
Hospital length of stay8 days
Intensive Care Unit length of stay3 daysIntensive Care Unit length of stay after cardiac surgery
Ventilator-free days1 dayVentilator-free days during hospitalization after cardiac surgery
In-hospital mortalityUntil hospital discharge, which usually occurs in approximately 8 days in the majority of patientsMortality which occurs in-hospital following surgery, up to the time of hospital discharge
Adjusted reintubation rate48 hoursAdjusted reintubation rate within 48 hours of initial extubation, if adjustment is needed based on clinically relevant imbalance in baseline characteristics between groups

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORRobert E Freundlich, MD

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 21, 2026