Continuous Physiological monitoring in patients admitted with sepsis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Continuous physiological monitoring in chemotherapy patients admitted with suspected sepsis
IRAS ID
137400
Contact name
Victoria Kunene
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Chemotherapy toxicity can result in prolonged hospital admission and negatively impact on prognosis if not managed appropriately. NCEPOD report 2008 has shown that 50% of mortality from chemotherapy occurs after the first cycle of treatment. Following this report, Acute oncology service became a mandatory requirement for all hospital trusts providing systemic anti-cancer treatment. Although this has improved mortality rates and patient management, not all patients contact their acute services with adverse toxicities early enough to prevent complications. To improve quality of care in this group of patients, early intervention and management of toxicity has potential to prevent serious complications and reduce hospital admissions.
One of the most serious complications patients present with is neutropenic sepsis which is potentially fatal. Patients with neutropenic sepsis who require admission to the intensive care unit often do poorly when compared to their counterparts. Management of sepsis, even in the absence of Neutropenia remains a challenge.
Continuous physiological monitoring has been used in various clinical settings to reduce admission to intensive care and promote early discharge. Early warning scores are in place in most hospitals, and have improved outcomes. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of continuous physiological monitoring in patients presenting with sepsis and to assess if such a method can detect very unwell patients much earlier than the current early warning score system. 30 chemotherapy patients in Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be monitored with the Isansys Patient Status Engine for up to 72 hours to determine if the collected vital sign data can be used as an early indication of deterioration. The data will be compared with that collected by nurses during routine observations. Anonymised data will be analysed to discover potential trends that could be used to develop automatic early warning scoring algorithm specific for these patients.REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0484
Date of REC Opinion
12 Mar 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion