Use of High Frequency Chest Compression in Pediatric Status Asthmaticus

September 12, 2016 updated by: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Use of High Frequency Chest Compression (HFCC) in Pediatric Status Asthmaticus

Asthma is a disease resulting in mucus hypersecretion and airways obstruction. This causes difficulty breathing. The High Frequency Chest Compressor (HFCC) is a device that has been shown to decrease respiratory complications in individuals with severe disability who are unable to clear airway secretions. There is a lack of studies using this device in children with asthma. The device has been shown in a study to be safe in children with asthma. The investigators propose that using this device in our pediatric patients hospitalized in the pediatric ICU with asthma will result in decreased pediatric ICU stay. The investigators will also look at asthma severity, total days of hospital stay and chest discomfort while on therapy.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Background: Asthma is the third largest cause of hospitalization in children under 15 years of age. It is a reversible obstructive lung disease caused by airway inflammation and constriction of the airway smooth muscle. Mucus producing glands of the airway become enlarged resulting in overproduction of mucus. All those factors result in airflow obstruction with airtrapping, ventilation/perfusion mismatch and hypoxia. Therapies such as beta-agonists (i.e. albuterol), anti-cholinergics (i.e. atrovent) and steroids are used for an acute asthma attack. Unfortunately, patients may develop status asthmaticus, in which a severe attack does not respond to nebulized bronchodilators, and require intensive care admission.

HFCC is an FDA (1988 under Class II 510K) approved device/modality of chest physiotherapy which has been utilized in patients with mucus hypersecretion, atelectasis and pneumonia. There is a paucity of pediatric studies. A comparative retrospective/prospective data analysis on exacerbations and hospitalizations in medically fragile (profoundly disabled) children using outpatient HFCC showed that use of this therapy reduced days of hospitalization for pulmonary exacerbations. Long term use in quadriplegic children reduced pulmonary secretions, incidence of pneumonia, and number of hospitalizations. In the pediatric cystic fibrosis population, there was improvement of lung function during hospitalization and long term decrease in progression of lung disease. Furthermore, in patients with mild to moderate asthma, there was no decline in lung function with the use of beta agonist and HFCC versus beta agonist alone indicating good tolerance and safety.

Because asthma patients have mucus hypersecretion and this modality has been shown to be effective in other patient populations with mucus hypersecretion, this modality can be used as a means of reducing pulmonary morbidity and thereby allowing the respiratory therapist to allocate his/her time more efficiently.

Purpose:

Assess efficacy of HFCC in PICU population ages 2 to 21 years of age with status asthmaticus

Design: Prospective Randomized non blinded HFCC (administered 4 times a day for 20 minutes) with conventional PICU management of asthma exacerbation vs. conventional PICU management of asthma exacerbation alone. Child would not have any of the standard asthma medications changed or stopped because of this study.

End Points of Interest:

Primary

1) PICU days - Average number of PICU days as researched is about 4.47 days. There may be factors such as non PICU floor availability and PICU rounds that may delay transfer from PICU to the non PICU floor. So the official discharge from PICU will be when the attending PICU physician announces or deems it acceptable for PICU discharge

Secondary

  1. Length of hospitalization
  2. Pediatric Asthma Severity Score a validated asthma severity score in pediatric population: 1) observed level of respiratory distress 2) accessory muscle use 3) auscultation (degree of wheezing) 4) oxygen saturation 5) respiratory rate Scored observations 0, 1, or 2 and total the observation numbers for a Severity score
  3. Discomfort

Patient inclusion 2 to 21 yo (VEST approved for over two yo) Admitted to PICU for status asthmaticus Negative urine pregnancy test prior to initiation of study in those with menses

Patient Exclusion

Absolute contraindication to VEST use:

  1. Unstable head or neck injury
  2. Active hemorrhage with hemodynamic instability
  3. Intracranial pressure > 20 mmHg or those in whom intracranial pressures should be avoided (was a relative contraindication but after discussion moved to absolute)

Presence of anomalies such as:

  1. Former premature infant with BPD
  2. Congenital bronchogenic or pulmonary anomaly (i.e. CF)
  3. Congenital heart disease

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

36

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

    • New York
      • Stony Brook, New York, United States, 11794
        • Stony Brook University Medical Center
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States, 29303
        • Spartanburg Regional Medical Center
    • Texas
      • Lubbock, Texas, United States, 79430
        • Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years to 21 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 2 to 21 yo (VEST approved for over two yo) Admitted to PICU for status asthmaticus Negative urine pregnancy test prior to initiation of study in those with menses

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Absolute contraindication to VEST use:

    1. Unstable head or neck injury
    2. Active hemorrhage with hemodynamic instability
    3. Intracranial pressure > 20 mmHg or those in whom intracranial pressures should be avoided (was a relative contraindication but after discussion moved to absolute)

Presence of anomalies such as:

  1. Former premature infant with BPD
  2. Congenital bronchogenic or pulmonary anomaly (i.e. CF)
  3. Congenital heart disease

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
Use of the HFCC device in addition to standard therapy for status asthmaticus. The use of HFCC will not affect the therapy received
every 6 hours for 20 minutes
No Intervention: 2
This group will not use the VEST or HFCC. They will just have standard therapy for status asthmaticus. The standard therapy will not be affected if they are in this group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hours Spent in Pediatric ICU
Time Frame: Number of hours from admission to discharge from PICU
Length of stay (hours) in Pediatric ICU.
Number of hours from admission to discharge from PICU

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total Days of Hospital Admission
Time Frame: Days
This is limited due to non collection by collaborating centers.
Days
Pediatric Asthma Severity Score (Modified Pulmonary Index Score)
Time Frame: Discharge from PICU
Modified Pulmonary Index Score (MPIS): a validated asthma severity score in pediatric population (Carroll CL et al. A modified pulmonary index score with predictive value for pediatric asthma exacerbations, Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2005) Consists of: 1) oxygen saturation on room air 2) accessory muscle use 3) inspiratory to expiratory ratio 4) degree of wheezing 5) heart rate 6) respiratory rate Scored observations 0, 1, 2 or 3. Total score range 0 - 18. Mild exacerbation total less than 6, moderate exacerbation 6 - 10, severe exacerbation higher than 10
Discharge from PICU
Number of Participants With Chest Discomfort
Time Frame: During PICU admission
During PICU admission

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Adaobi C Kanu, MD, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

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

October 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 1, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 1, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

November 2, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 14, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 12, 2016

Last Verified

September 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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.

Subscribe