Protocolised trial of invasive and non-invasive weaning off ventilation (The 'Breathe' Study)

ISRCTN ISRCTN15635197
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15635197
Secondary identifying numbers HTA 10/134/06, 13347
Submission date
28/11/2012
Registration date
29/11/2012
Last edited
19/09/2019
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Respiratory
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
About 60,000 people each year in the UK become critically ill and require sedation and treatment with invasive mechanical ventilation given via a tube placed in the windpipe. Although initially lifesaving, invasive mechanical ventilation is associated with a number of complications including ventilator-associated pneumonia and prolonged requirements for sedatives with weakening of the leg, arm and breathing muscles. The longer a person requires invasive ventilation the poorer their chances of surviving. The process of liberating patients from invasive ventilation is referred to as weaning. Previous research has shown that implementing protocols for weaning can reduce the amount of time on a ventilator machine. There is also evidence that switching from invasive to non-invasive ventilation (also called mask ventilation) as an intermediate step in the weaning process may reduce the amount of time spent on the ventilator and complications. This study will compare protocolised invasive (tube) and non-invasive (mask) weaning strategies.

Who can participate?
Adult patients (male and female, age over 16 years) with respiratory failure who have received invasive ventilation for more than 48 hours (from the time of intubation) and fail a spontaneous breathing trial.

What does the study involve?
Patients are assessed daily for their readiness to commence weaning. Those ready for weaning are randomly allocated to either a protocolised weaning pathway that includes a period of mask ventilation or a protocolised pathway that does not include mask ventilation. The study measures the cost effectiveness and health benefits (time spent on a ventilator; survival, time spent in hospital including intensive care, complication rates) of each approach. The study also measures the impact of each approach on health-related quality of life using questionnaires.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Not provided.

Where is the study run from?
Warwick Clinical Trials Unit (UK).

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2013 to July 2017

Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Mr Adam de Paeztron
a.de-paeztron@warwick.ac.uk

Study website

Contact information

Mr Adam de Paeztron
Scientific

Warwick Clinical Trials Unit
Warwick Medical School
University of Warwick
Gibbet Hill Road
Coventry
CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

Phone +44 2476 150 955
Email a.de-paeztron@warwick.ac.uk

Study information

Study designPragmatic randomised controlled open multi-centre effectiveness trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Hospital
Study typeTreatment
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet
Scientific titleProtocolised trial of invasive and non-invasive weaning off ventilation (The 'Breathe' Study): a pragmatic randomised controlled open multi-centre effectiveness trial
Study acronymBREATHE
Study hypothesisThe BREATHE trial will be a pragmatic, randomised, controlled, open, multi-centre, effectiveness trial to determine if the use of Non Invasive Ventilation (NIV) as an intermediate step in the protocolised weaning of patients off invasive ventilation is clinically and cost effective.

Patients with respiratory failure who have received invasive ventilation for more than 48 hours (from the time of intubation) and fail a spontaneous breathing test (SBT) will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to invasive or non-invasive weaning strategies.

More details can be found at: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hta/1013406/#/
Ethics approval(s)NRES Committee South Central – Oxford C, First MREC approval date 05/10/2012, ref: 12/SC/0515
ConditionTopic: Generic Health Relevance and Cross Cutting Themes; Subtopic: Generic Health Relevance (all Subtopics); Disease: Critical Care
InterventionThe health technology being assessed is the use of NIV as an adjunct to protocolised weaning compared to protocolised weaning that does not include NIV following a failed spontaneous breathing trial.

Protocolised invasive weaning arm
The participant will be restarted on pressure supported ventilation at the previous settings. The level of pressure support (Psupp) will be titrated to achieve patient comfort and respiratory rate <30 breaths min-1. Causes for distress / fatigue / weaning failure will be sought and corrective treatments initiated as appropriate. The patient will be reassessed every 2 hours. If there are no signs of distress / fatigue then the level of Psupp will be reduced by 2 cmH2O. This cycle will be repeated every two hours as tolerated. If at any stage the patient develops signs of distress / fatigue then they be will increased by 2 cmH2O. FiO2 will be titrated to maintain SaO2 > 90%. A further SBT will take place each morning. This cycle will continue until the patient has either been extubated (due to passing the SBT or tolerating Psupp 5 cmH2O) or a tracheostomy is performed.

This active weaning protocol will occur between 8am-10pm. Unless the participant develops signs of fatigue or distress, ventilator settings will not be changed overnight.

Protocolised non-invasive arm
Participants allocated to the NIV arm will be extubated and immediately provided with NIV with an equivalent level of pressure support and PEEP to the ventilator settings prior to extubation. After 2 hours, if no signs of distress / fatigue occur then the NIV interface will be removed and the participant will undergo a self-ventilation trial with supplemental oxygen (equivalent to the previous FiO2) being provided via a standard oxygen mask.

If no signs of distress or fatigue develop during the self-ventilation trial the patient will continue receiving unsupported ventilation with inhaled oxygen being provided as required. If the participant subsequently develops signs of distress or fatigue, NIV will be re-started (as below). Otherwise the participant will continue with unsupported self-ventilation. FiO2 will be titrated to maintain SaO2 > 90%.

If signs of distress or fatigue develop NIV will be re-instated at the previous settings. The level of pressure support (Psupp) will be titrated to achieve participant comfort and a respiratory rate < 30 breaths min-1. Causes for distress / fatigue / weaning failure will be sought and corrective treatments initiated as appropriate. The participant will be reassessed every 2 hours. If there are no signs of distress / fatigue then a further trial of self-ventilation will be commenced as described above.

This active weaning protocol will occur between 8am-10pm. Unless the participant develops signs of fatigue or distress, ventilator settings will not be changed overnight.

NIV will be withdrawn when the participant tolerates 12 hours unsupported spontaneous ventilation.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measureTime from randomisation to liberation from ventilation
Secondary outcome measuresEfficacy:
1. Mortality at 30, 90 and 180 days
2. Duration of IMV and total ventilator days (invasive and non-invasive ventilation)
3. Time to meeting ICU discharge criteria (defined as no further requirement for level 2/3 care)
4. Proportion of patients receiving antibiotics for presumed respiratory infection and total antibiotic days
5. Re-intubation rates (protocolised end-point and actual event)
6. Tracheostomy

Safety:
1. Adverse events
2. Serious adverse events

Patient focused outcomes:
Health-related quality of life, measured using EuroQol, EQ-5D, SF12 at baseline (estimated), 3 and 6 months
Overall study start date01/01/2013
Overall study end date31/07/2017

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupAdult
SexBoth
Target number of participantsRevised sample size 364; UK sample size 364
Total final enrolment364
Participant inclusion criteria1. Male and female, age > 16 years
2. Patients with respiratory failure who have received invasive ventilation for more than 48 hours (from the time of intubation)
3. Fail a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT)
4. Provision of written informed consent

The trial inclusion criteria will be adult patients with respiratory failure who have received invasive ventilation for more than 48 hours (from the time of intubation) and fail a SBT. We will not include patients who require shorter periods of invasive ventilation or those who pass the SBT as this group are typically rapidly weaned and have good clinical outcomes.
Participant exclusion criteria1. Presence of tracheostomy
2. Profound neurological deficit
3. Any absolute contraindication to NIV
4. Home ventilation prior to ICU admission
5. Decision not to re-intubate or withdrawal of care anticipated
6. Further surgery / procedure requiring sedation planned in next 48 hours
7. Previous participation in the trial
Recruitment start date01/01/2013
Recruitment end date04/10/2016

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Warwick Medical School
Coventry
CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (UK)
Hospital/treatment centre

3 Bordesley Green East
Bordesley Green
Birmingham
B9 5SS
England
United Kingdom

Website http://www.heartofengland.nhs.uk/

Funders

Funder type

Government

Health Technology Assessment Programme
Government organisation / National government
Alternative name(s)
NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme, HTA
Location
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date31/12/2018
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryData sharing statement to be made available at a later date
Publication and dissemination planPlanned publication in a high-impact peer reviewed journal one year after overall trail end date.
IPD sharing planThe data sharing plans for the current study are unknown and will be made available at a later date

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article results 13/11/2018 Yes No
Results article results 01/09/2019 19/09/2019 Yes No

Editorial Notes

19/09/2019: Publication reference and total final enrolment added.
23/10/2018: Publication reference added.
31/08/2018: Internal review.
31/08/2017: Main contact has been changed from Mrs Beverley Hoddell b.hoddell@warwick.ac.uk to Mr Adam de Paeztron a.de-paeztron@warwick.ac.uk. The target number of participants has changed from 920 to 364. Publication and dissemination plan has been added. Individual patient data sharing statement has been added.
11/01/2017: the overall trial end date was changed from 01/06/2016 to 31/07/2017.