Clinical trials

Although there are published guidelines for the management of shock in general and septic shock in particular, the extent to which these guidelines are adhered to or achievable is unknown. Our study aims to describe, in a large population of critical care patients, the management procedures for septic shock, the applicability of existing guidelines, and the characteristics of the centres. The primary objective is to assess current clinical practices for the treatment and monitoring of patients with septic shock. The secondary objectives are to investigate the association of current clinical practices for the treatment and monitoring with 28-day all-cause mortality, to assess the association of current clinical practices for the treatment and monitoring with other outcomes, including 90-day all-cause mortality, ICU length of stay, days without renal replacement therapy, days without vasopressors support and days without invasive mechanical ventilation, to assess the factors that influence the disparity of practices, among the severity of the patients, the country, the availability of drugs and devices and to measure the relative frequency of balanced fluid and isotonic saline administration.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an inflammatory injury of the lungs caused by various serious illnesses, such as a bacterial or viral lung infection. It is treated by artificial ventilation with the application of positive pressure. Pulmonary injury, coupled with artificial ventilation, can lead to right heart failure which hinders the ejection of blood to the pulmonary circulation. Modern mechanical ventilation modalities have reduced the frequency ("incidence") of this right heart failure in acute respiratory distress syndrome. A large-scale study has shown this a few years ago. However, the evolution of right heart failure during artificial ventilation, and the consequences it has on the patient's cardiovascular status are poorly determined. This study is conducted to improve knowledge in this area. In adult patients hospitalized in intensive care presenting acute respiratory distress syndrome, the investigators will collect the data recorded on cardiac ultrasound, doses of cardiovascular drugs as well as variables reflecting hemodynamic status and cell oxygenation. Data will be collected during the course of ARDS and mechanical ventilation, as well as after weaning from artificial ventilation.

When the flow of blood ejected by the heart drops significantly, that is to say when there is "shock", one of the first treatments undertaken is often volume expansion. This treatment consists of injecting a liquid intravenously, generally in the form of a bolus, that is to say a dose of solute administered all at once, of 250 to 500 mL of fluid over approximately 10 to 30 minutes. The injected fluid expands the blood volume and fills the heart pump, in order to increase the flow it ejects. However, this treatment poses two problems. First, it is only inconsistently effective. It is possible that of the 250-500 mL of fluid administered in the standard way, only a part is effective, whereas, as the effectiveness decreases during the infusion, the rest does not increase cardiac output significantly. However, the average part of the total volume that is ineffective on a large population of patients is not well known. Second, the effects of volume expansion on cardiac output decrease rapidly after the end of administration. However, the average duration of effectiveness of a 250-500 mL fluid bolus, and the factors that influence this duration of effectiveness, are not well determined. The main objective of this research is to measure, among the volume of a fluid bolus, which part does not significantly increase cardiac output. The secondary objective is to measure the average time of effectiveness after the end of the infusion and the factors that influence it.

Intubated patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are usually treated with protective ventilation limiting plateau pressure below 30 centimeter of water (cmH2O) and, if possible, a driving pressure under 15 cmH2O. However, these airway pressures might not reflect the actual pressure applied to the lung. Transpulmonary pressure is the difference between airway pressure and pleural pressure, the latter is estimated by the esophageal pressure, and so it better reflects the ventilatory induced lung injury (VILI). One of the consequences of the VILI is a increase of pulmonary edema and it could be estimated by the extravascular lung water, obtained by trans-pulmonary thermodilution. So it could exist a link between the driving trans-pulmonary pressure and the extravascular lung water.

Fluid responsiveness is a critical determinant guiding fluid therapy in critically ill patients. However, excessive fluid administration can result in fluid overload, leading to venous congestion and worse clinical outcomes. Venous congestion, a marker of impaired fluid clearance, is increasingly recognized as a significant contributor to poor prognosis. Previous studies have demonstrated the coexistence of fluid responsiveness and venous congestion in critically ill patients. Notably, these studies were limited by the absence of fluid challenge-the gold standard for assessing fluid responsiveness-leaving the dynamic relationship between fluid responsiveness and venous congestion incompletely understood. This study aims to investigate the interplay and temporal evolution of fluid responsiveness and venous congestion following a standardized fluid challenge in critically ill patients.