COMETS

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Concordance Of MEthods to select Tracheostomy tube Size for adults in intensive care (COMETS)

• IRAS ID

  272157

• Contact name

  Daniel S Martin

• Contact email

  rmhadam@ucl.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  UCLH/UCL Joint Research Office

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  Z6364106/2021/01/46 health research, UCL Data Protection Registration Reference

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 2 months, days

• Research summary

  
  This study is one of four workstreams in an NIHR funded PhD project. The overall aims are 1) to create guidance for Health Care Professionals (HCPs) on how to select the right size tracheostomy tube (TT) for patients in intensive care, and 2) to identify ways to best ensure that HCPs follow the guidance.

  Background: Some patients intensive care need a machine to help them breathe (mechanical ventilation). If they need Mmechanical ventilation for more than two weeks, doctors insert a plastic tube in the windpipe via a small incision at the front of the neck. The tube is called a tracheostomy tube (TT). Selecting the right size TT for patients is important and can help:
  • mechanical ventilation
  • air to pass around the TT so the patient can speak
  • progression from needing MV to breathing for themselves
  • eating and drinking
  • avoid damage to the trachea
  There is currently no detailed guidance on how to select the best size tube for patients on ICU.

  The aim of this workstream is to investigate four methods of working out the size of TT to use. These four methods are based on patients’ sex, height, Body Mass Index and shoulder width. We will compare them with a recommended method that is based on measurement of the windpipe (trachea).

  A second aim is to investigate the strength of association between height and shoulder width with tracheal width.

  We will analyse the data to determine the agreement of TT size recommendations calculated through: the four methods based on physical characteristics; the standard method based on tracheal width.

  The results will provide clinicians with a better idea of how methods to choose the size of TT might impact the fit of the TT in the trachea.
  

• REC name

  South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  21/SC/0211

• Date of REC Opinion

  7 Jul 2021

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion