ECMO ULTRASOUND
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Characterising changes in muscle quantity and quality in patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during critical illness; 'ECMO-ULTRASOUND', an observational cohort study
IRAS ID
208134
Contact name
Nicholas Barrett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Many patients who are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) experience muscle weakness as a result of muscle wasting. This muscle wasting occurs as a result of patients being unconscious, immobile in bed and on a ventilator. It can develop very quickly, as soon as they become unwell, and is due to the muscles not being actively used. When patients start to recover, this muscle wasting and weakness can make it harder for them to regain their normal level of functional ability, such as standing and walking independently.
In recent years, ultrasound has been increasingly used to image different muscles in the body in critically ill patients whilst they are in the ICU. This is the same type of ultrasound imaging that women receive during pregnancy but it can be applied to many different parts of the body and for many different purposes e.g. doctors also use ultrasound to help with accurately inserting monitoring lines into the veins of patients on the ICU for delivering medication.
Ultrasound is a very useful technique to use for imaging muscles of critically ill patients in the ICU – it can be performed at the patient’s bedspace so that they do not have to leave the ICU as they may do for other scans and procedures. It is a very quick technique, and the patient does not have to make any effort whilst it is being performed. Patients are also unlikely to be aware that the ultrasound is being performed as it cannot be felt.Taking images of the muscle throughout a patient’s ICU admission can provide very useful information about how the muscle changes during illness in order for help develop treatments that may reduce muscle wasting, and for us to be able to monitor the response of the muscle to different treatments such as exercise. Also by taking pictures of different muscles in the body we can find out whether all muscles are affected in the same way, and to the same amount.
In this study, we would like to take images of different muscles using ultrasound, specifically one of their breathing muscles, one of their trunk muscles and two muscles in the leg.REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1177
Date of REC Opinion
11 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion