Diaphragm Ultrasound and Respiratory Measures after SCI
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Pilot Study to Explore the Relationship Between Bedside Diaphragm Ultrasound and Usual Respiratory Function Measures in Adults with a History of Spinal Cord Injury
IRAS ID
371282
Contact name
Alex Lowe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
RNOH
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
It is not known how useful diaphragm ultrasound measures such as thickness on inspiration and expiration are helpful in assessing respiratory function following spinal cord injury. Some studies have suggested they may have a role in predicting who may wean from a ventilator (Bhatia et al., 2024; Tashiro et al., 2025) or that measures may be related to respiratory measures such as spirometry or peak flow (Stone et al., 2025). However, these studies have been small and those in spinal cord injury may be at risk of publication bias (Bhatia et al., 2024) and/or have been undertaken with one clinician performing ultrasound measures leading to risk of generalisability outside of this centre, or in other levels of spinal cord injury (Stone et al., 2025).
This pilot study will help determine the practicalities of a larger multi-centre study involving a great number of patients and respiratory measures in adults with a history of spinal cord injury to help investigate whether the use of bedside diaphragm ultrasound measures of thickness ratio are useful in the understanding of respiratory function and severity after injury. This may help determine whether use would be beneficial in patients and to explore whether ultrasound could have any role in predicting severity of respiratory involvement and management.
The main outcome is to determine correlation of two independent clinicians performing bedside diaphragm thickness ultrasounds in adult patients with a history of spinal cord injury. Secondary outcomes to determine if bedside ultrasound diaphragm thickness ratios are correlated to usual respiratory function measures with spirometry and peak flow, and to determine the time taken for two experienced clinicians to perform these scans in practice.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/WM/0095
Date of REC Opinion
15 May 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion