G- Forces On Retrieved ChildrEn Pilot Study (G-FORCE)

December 15, 2025 updated by: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
G-Forces On Retrieved ChildrEn (Pilot) Study is a feasibility study looking at the effect of G-Forces in vivo during episodes of paediatric critical care transport. The study aims to (i) understand the relationship between the physics of transport on physiological parameters and (ii) assess whether syringe driver delivery (previously demonstrated to be affected by G-forces in vitro), is responsible for physiological variations in transported paediatric patients requiring vasoactive/inotropic infusions.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

Throughout the UK, paediatric transport services are responsible for the stabilisation and transport of critically unwell children. This involves moving children from district general hospitals to receive specialist care in tertiary centres and moving children between tertiary and quaternary centres in order to provide the appropriate level of specialist care.

Critically unwell children often require infusions of essential, life-saving medications during episodes of transport. Disruption of these infusions can be destabilising and even life-threatening. Examples of essential infusions include the use of prostin in duct-dependent congenital heart disease, vasoactive/inotropic medications in shock and sedation and muscle relaxants to ensure comfortable, safe transfer.

Critically unwell patients often require support in the form of inotropes/vasopressors to support cardiac contractility and alter vascular tone and are commonly used in the treatment of shock. Physiological response to vasoactive/inotropic drugs is rapid and measurable in terms of cardiovascular status through observing changes in heart rate, blood pressure and oxygenation of peripheral tissues (pulse oximetry). As such these medications offer the potential to observe whether syringe driver delivery variations as mediated through the effect of g-forces exert measurable physiological instability in transported patients.

G-Forces Pilot is a prospective, observational, case-control, feasibility study investigating the effect of G-forces as measured by an accelerometer against physiological parameters of heart rate, invasive blood pressure measurement and oxygen saturations in vivo during episodes of transport. The study aims to understand the relationship between the physics of transport on physiological parameters and to assess whether syringe driver delivery (previously demonstrated to be affected by G-forces in-vitro), is responsible for physiological variations in transported patients requiring vasoactive/inotropic infusions.

The investigators propose to examine this relationship by obtaining and analysing data on physiological parameters in patients during episodes of transport to assess:

(i) Whether G-forces experienced by being in a moving ambulance affect the stability of patient physiological parameters.

(ii) How variations in syringe driver delivery mediated through the effects of G-Forces affect patients in transit as evidenced through instability in physiological parameters whilst receiving vasoactive/inotropic infusions.

This will be examined by the comparison of a control and study group. The control group will consist of patients with full monitoring (including an arterial line), without vasoactive/inotropic support. The study group will consist of patients with full monitoring (including an arterial line) receiving vasoactive/inotropic support through a syringe driver. Data analysis will assess the strength of correlation between patient observations and experienced g-forces recorded during the episode of transport to answer the study question.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
9

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Peter Shires, BMBS BMedSci
  • Phone Number: 61232 01159 24 9924
  • Email: pshires@nhs.net

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
    • Nottinghamshire
      • Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, NG7 2UH
        • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Any child, 36 weeks corrected gestation to 18 years, accepted for transport by the COMET retrieval service

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

(i) Any child, 36 weeks corrected gestation to 18 years, accepted for transport by the COMET retrieval service who has an arterial line with active arterial blood pressure monitoring at departure from the referring hospital. The decision for the need for an arterial line is determined purely on a clinical basis by the referring, transporting or accepting clinical team.

Exclusion Criteria:

(i) Children outside the specified age range.

(ii) Children who do not have invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring during a transport episode.

(iii) Any case where patients, parents or guardians elect to opt out of data analysis.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Control Group
Transported patients with full monitoring (including an arterial line), without inotropic/vasoactive support.
Study Group
Transported patients with full monitoring and vasoactive/inotropic support being delivered by a syringe driver.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Correlation between physiological parameters and G-forces during transport episode
Time Frame: 12 months study period

Beat to beat, wave-form data from physiological parameters of heart rate, oxygen saturations and invasive arterial blood pressure measured during transport will provide a set of continuous data outputs. Calculating the correlation coefficient will indicate the strength of relationship between physiological parameters and the experienced G-forces with the aim of answering two questions:

  1. Do G-forces (the acceleration and deceleration forces) experienced by being in a moving ambulance, affect the stability of patient observations - heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturations.
  2. Do G-forces experienced by being in a moving ambulance, affect the delivery of vasoactive/inotropic drug infusions which in turn affects the stability of observations.
12 months study period

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Chair: Peter Shires, BMBS BMedSci, NUH, NHS

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 4, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 31, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 7, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 7, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 14, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 22, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 15, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 20CS032

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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