Application of a Clinical Decision Support System to Reduce Mechanical Ventilation Duration After Cardiac Surgery in Children

May 7, 2026 updated by: Taylor M Smith, Boston Children's Hospital

Application of a Clinical Decision Support System to Reduce Mechanical Ventilation Duration After Cardiac Surgery

The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) in children receiving mechanical ventilation (MV) after surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD). The main question it aims to answer is:

-What is the impact of a CDSS designed to facilitate weaning and discontinuation of MV on the duration of MV in post-operative congenital cardiac surgery patients?

Participants will be identified as eligible to initiate weaning from mechanical ventilation. Providers will decide whether or not to initiate weaning based on recommendations provided by the CDSS. Researchers will compare patients exposed to the CDSS with a historical cohort to see if the CDSS facilitated a decrease in MV duration.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV) in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) is associated with morbidity and mortality. There is no standard approach to weaning MV in CHD patients. Similarly, extubation failure is associated with morbidity and mortality, and there is no existing method for predicting extubation success in CHD patients. The overarching aim of this study is to use a novel clinical decision support system (CDSS) informed by continuous data streams and risk analytics algorithms to facilitate shorter MV duration.

The CDSS will be built into the T3 Visualization Platform (T3). T3 continuously tracks all inputs from a patient's existing physiologic monitors, ventilator, and laboratory values from the electronic medical record. T3 then graphically displays the data on a single bedside computer/monitor that is updated every 5 seconds. The platform includes three FDA 510(k)-cleared predictive analytics algorithms for estimating the risk of low cardiac output (IDO2), inadequate ventilation (IVCO2), and acidosis (IPH). The investigators for this study have previously evaluated IDO2 and IVCO2 in a retrospective cohort of children receiving MV for greater than or equal to 48 hours following cardiac surgery. This study identified that patients with a low IDO2 and IVCO2 had a higher probability of remaining extubated without the need for reintubation or unplanned use of noninvasive ventilation in the 48 hours following extubation.

The CDSS will be designed to prompt discussion around timing of ventilator weaning, extubation readiness assessments, and extubation. Recommendations will be informed by the continuous monitoring of a patient and based on trends in vital signs and the risk analytics algorithms.

This study will be a single center, nonrandomized before and after study with additional quasi-experimental design component using interrupted time-series analysis (with retrospective evaluation of pre-intervention and prospective data collection post-intervention).

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

330

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 Locations

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

1 day to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Neonates, infants, and children with congenital heart disease receiving mechanical ventilation after cardiac surgery.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children < 12 years old
  • Post-cardiac surgery
  • Receiving mechanical ventilation for ≥ 48 hours in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Boston Children's Hospital following surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Premature infants (<37 weeks' gestation)
  • Weight < 2kg
  • Baseline ventilator (via tracheostomy) or noninvasive positive pressure dependence

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

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
CDSS Ventilator Weaning Group
This group will be exposed to the CDSS to inform weaning and discontinuation of mechanical ventilation.
A clinical decision support system (CDSS) will be integrated into a software program (the T3 platform) that is present on all patient bedside computers. The T3 platform is a tool that compiles data from a patient's existing physiologic monitors, ventilator, and laboratory results and graphically displays them on a bedside monitor. The CDSS will be active on all patients receiving mechanical ventilation, but primary use and evaluation will focus on patients meeting study criteria. Twice daily (on morning rounds and evening rounds), patients will be screened for eligibility. During each rounds, teams will review the CDSS and associated risk analytics data used to inform the associated recommendations for ventilator weaning, extubation readiness assessment, and extubation. The clinical team will consider the CDSS in decision making around ventilator weans. If the decision is made not to follow the CDSS recommendations, the clinician will complete a brief survey with rationale.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Duration of Mechanical Ventilation
Time Frame: Up to 28 days after surgery
Measured in days; Obtained from date/time of initial extubation minus date/time of admission from surgery, divided by 24 to give an exact determination of days
Up to 28 days after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Unplanned extubation
Time Frame: From date of surgery until date of first documented extubation, assessed up to 28 days
Unplanned extubation during CDSS activation; Occurring between return from surgery and initial planned extubation
From date of surgery until date of first documented extubation, assessed up to 28 days
Unplanned use of noninvasive ventilation
Time Frame: Within 48 hours of extubation
Patient extubated to room air requiring escalation to positive pressure ventilation
Within 48 hours of extubation
Unplanned reintubation
Time Frame: Within 48 hours of extubation
Patient requires unplanned replacement of breathing tube
Within 48 hours of extubation
Adherence rate by clinical team to CDSS recommendations
Time Frame: From date of CDSS initiation until date of first documented extubation, assessed up to 28 days
Clinical team follows recommendations provided by the CDSS for ventilator weaning, extubation readiness test performance, and extubation
From date of CDSS initiation until date of first documented extubation, assessed up to 28 days

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cardiac intensive care unit length of stay
Time Frame: From date of surgery until the date of initial discharge from the cardiac intensive care unit, assessed up to 52 weeks
Measured in days
From date of surgery until the date of initial discharge from the cardiac intensive care unit, assessed up to 52 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Daniel Hames, MD, Boston Children's Hospital

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)

November 18, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 18, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 21, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

January 18, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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