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Prone Position in infantS/Children With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Physiological Effects of Prone vs. sUpine Position on Lung Recruitability in infantS/Children With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06020404
Acronym
PULSAR
Enrollment
15
Registered
2023-08-31
Start date
2023-09-01
Completion date
2025-09-30
Last updated
2024-02-23

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

Conditions

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Prone Position

Brief summary

In adult patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the beneficial effects of prone position (PP) have been well investigated and explored; it reduces intrapulmonary shunt (Qs/Qt) and enhances lung recruitment, modifying both lung ventilation (VA) and lung perfusion (Q) distribution, finally generating an improvement in VA/Q matching and reversing oxygenation impairment;it reduces right ventricular afterload, increase cardiac index in subjects with preload reserve and reverse acute cor pulmonale in severe ARDS patients, but in infants and children there is still a lack of clear evidence. Taken together, these effects explain why PP improves oxygenation, limits the occurrence of ventilator-induced lung injury and improves survival. Prone position is simple to perform in infants and in some neonatal and pediatric intensive care units is already commonly accomplished. However, a detailed analysis of the respective effects of high PEEP and prone position is lacking in infants/children with ARDS, while these two tools may interfere and/or act coherently. A recent multicenter, retrospective analysis of patients with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) describes how patients managed with lower PEEP relative to FIO2 than recommended by the ARDSNet model had higher mortality, suggesting that future clinical trials targeting PEEP management in PARDS are needed. We designed a physiological study to investigate the physiological effects of prone positioning on lung recruitability in infants/children with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Detailed description

Each patient meeting inclusion criteria will be evaluated for the presence of the oxygenation criterion. After neuromuscular paralysis (or apnoeic ventilation as per PICU protocol), and endotracheal suctioning, eligible patients will be ventilated for 30 min with PEEP = 5 cmH2O in the semi-recumbent position, with a tidal volume limited to 6 mL/kg and a Plateau Pressure less than 30 cmH2O. FiO2 will be titrated to obtain and SpO2 \>92 % and \<98 %. Afterward, arterial blood gas analysis (ABG) will be performed to compute PaO2/FiO2 ratio to confirm the presence of the inclusion and the absence of exclusion criteria.Patients showing PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 mmHg will be enrolled. Eligible patients will undergo the following protocol: * Verify the presence of airway closure with airway opening pressure (AOP) \> PEEP5cmH2O; * PEEP will be initially set at 12 cmH2O (providing that plateau and driving pressures do not exceed 30 cmH2O and 15 cmH2O, respectively) for 40 minutes to stabilize lung volumes; afterwards, respiratory mechanics will be assessed through standard occlusions and arterial blood gases will be analyzed. Subsequently, a 4-steps decremental PEEP trial (PEEP 12 to 10 to 8 to 5 cmH2O) will be conducted. Each PEEP step will last 8 minutes, and all other ventilator settings will remain unchanged throughout the procedure. At the end of each PEEP step respiratory mechanics will be assessed by the ventilator through 1-second end-inspiratory and end-expiratory holds: plateau pressure \[Pplat\] and total PEEP \[PEEPtot\] will be measured, and driving pressure \[ΔP=Pplat-PEEPtot\] and respiratory system compliance \[Crs = VT/ΔP\] will be assessed; * End-expiratory lung impedance (EELI) will be measured by electrical impedance tomography (EIT)

Interventions

PROCEDUREsupine position

At the end of the PEEP trial (i.e. at PEEP 5 cmH2O), patients will lay in the supine position for 15 minutes arterial blood gases will be performed and then a one-breath derecruitment maneuver (5-second exhalation, respiratory rate \< 8 bpm) from PEEP 5 cmH2O to 0 cmH2O will be conducted to assess baseline functional residual capacity (FRC), defined as the EELI measured at 0 PEEP.

PROCEDUREprone position

After the supine step, each enrolled patient will be placed in the prone position for 1 hour. For safety reasons, enteral feeding will be interrupted 30 minutes before prone positioning and re-established after the study ending. During pronation FiO2 will be increased up to 80% and then gradually decreased to the baseline value within the first 30 minutes of prone positioning. After 30 minutes of PEEP 12 cmH2O (provided that plateau and driving pressures did not exceed 30 cmH2O and 15 cmH2O, respectively) to stabilize lung volumes, the same measurements applied for the supine step will be performed. Any further modifications in the MV settings will be discouraged over the entire course of the study; nonetheless, if needed to achieve the SpO2 target, an increase in FiO2 will be allowed and recorded. In case of sudden worsening of the oxygenation impairment or haemodynamic, 100% FiO2 will be set, and the patient will be promptly positioned in the supine semi-recumbent position.

Sponsors

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

2x2 cross-over design

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* PaO2/FiO2 \< 200 in the supine position, with a standard PEEP of 5 cmH2O; * PaCO2 \<45mmHg; * Absence of history of chronic respiratory disease or heart failure or congenital heart disease (Modified Ross heart failure classification for children \< II); * Not underweight infants/children defined as a low body mass index (BMI) for age; * Absence of any contraindication to PP (Appendix 1); * Written informed consent of both parents and the legal guardian.

Exclusion criteria

* Barotrauma; * Less than 4 weeks of age (new-born physiology); * Exacerbation of asthma; * Chest trauma; * Pulmonary oedema/haemorrhage; * Severe Neutropenia (\<500 WBC/mm3); * Haemodynamic instability (Systolic blood pressure \< 5th percentile or mean arterial pressure \< 5th percentile adjusted by age); * Lactic acidosis (lactate \>5 mmol/L) and/or clinically diagnosed shock; * Metabolic Acidosis (pH \<7.30 with normal- or hypo-carbia); * Chronic kidney failure requiring dialysis before PICU admission; * Upper gastrointestinal bleeding. * Refusal to sign written informed consent of both parents and the legal guardian.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
effect of prone positioning on lung recruitabilityat the end of the supine and prone positionPaO2/FiO2 ratio

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
ventilatory ratioat the end of the supine and prone positionminute ventilation (ml/min) × PaCO2 (mmHg)\]/(predicted body weight × 100 × 37.5)
global impedance-derived End-expiratory lung volumeat the end of the supine and prone positioneffects of prone position on End-expiratory lung volume, measured with electrical impedance tomography
regional impedance-derived End-expiratory lung volumeat the end of the supine and prone positioneffects of prone position on End-expiratory lung impedance in the four regions of the lungs (ventral, mid-ventral, mid-dorsal, dorsal), measured with electrical impedance tomography
tidal volume distributionat the end of the supine and prone positioneffect of prone position on % tidal volume distribution in the four regions of the lung (ventral, mid-ventral, mid-dorsal, dorsal), explored with electrical impedance tomography
difference in gas exchangesat the end of the supine and prone positionPaO2/FiO2, PaCO2, PaO2
regional impedance-derived lung dynamic strainat the end of the supine and prone positionchange in impedance due to tidal volume / end expiratory lung impedance in the four regions of the lungs (ventral, mid-ventral, mid-dorsal, dorsal), measured with electrical impedance tomography
number of displacements of the endotracheal tube during prone position2 hourssafety endpoint
number of oxygen desaturations during prone position2 hourssafety endpoint
global impedance-derived lung dynamic strainat the end of the supine and prone positionchange in impedance due to tidal volume / end expiratory lung impedance, both measured with electrical impedance tomography

Countries

Italy

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026