Clinical trial improves outcomes for children on ventilators

The study found that a greater involvement of nurses, minimising sedation use and increasing daily testing to assess the child’s readiness to come off the ventilator significantly reduced the time on mechanical ventilation. It is the largest trial of its kind and has already led to changes in practice for two-thirds of the UK paediatric ICUs for the benefit of infants and children.

Compared to the current standard care, the study reported that in children who were expected to be on a ventilator for more than 24 hours, the intervention reduced the time on the mechanical ventilator by an average of six hours. Furthermore, in all children regardless if they were expected to be on a ventilator for more or less than 24 hours, the intervention reduced the ventilation time by an average of seven hours. Overall, the chances of children having their breathing tube removed successfully was greater.

The Sedation AND Weaning In Children (SANDWICH) trial is the world’s largest trial recruiting infants and children in paediatric Intensive Care Units (ICU). The study involved more than 10,000 admissions to 18 ICUs, that accounts for two-thirds of the UK’s paediatric ICUs.

Read the results in the Journal of American Medical Association.

Annually, in the UK, approximately 20,000 infants and children are treated in a paediatric ICU and, of these, around 12,000 receive mechanical ventilation. Mechanical ventilation is a lifesaving therapy but may involve related risk caused by the breathing tube in the mouth and throat, the sedative drugs needed to reduce anxiety, and remaining confined to bed.

"To improve the care of the very sickest children in our hospitals, paediatric intensive care teams from across the UK have come together to put bedside nursing at the heart of decision making, and introducing a more structured approach to reducing sedatives and ventilation," Professor Mark Peters continued.

"GOSH and UCL GOS ICH have played a crucial role in these studies both as the largest recruiter of patients and as lead contributors to the research. We look forward to reporting at least four more major UK NIHR-funded multiple-centre randomised trials in intensive care in the next few years. We expect the results will improve outcomes and reduce costs."

The trial involved training more than 2,000 doctors and nurses in the new SANDWICH intervention. This resulted in a change in practice for two-thirds of the UK paediatric ICUs for the benefit of infants and children. The success of this quality improvement intervention in changing medical and nursing practice is far reaching for other paediatric ICUs world-wide.

The research was funded by National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). Partners include: Alder Hey Hospital; Birmingham Children’s Hospital; Great Ormond Street Hospital; The Royal Brompton Children’s Hospital; the University of Birmingham; University College London; University of Edinburgh; University of Leeds; University of Salford and the Northern Ireland Clinical Trials Unit.