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Improving Our Understanding of Respiratory Muscle Training to Facilitate Weaning From Mechanical Ventilation in the ICU

NCT04658498 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 90

Last updated 2026-03-18

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving treatment frequently applied in intensive care unit (ICU). Nonetheless, by putting at rest the respiratory muscles, it can lead to respiratory muscle weakness and atrophy, which are accompanied by prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation, difficult weaning and increased ICU mortality. Despite a strong theoretical rationale and some evidence supporting the use of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) to address respiratory muscle weakness and atrophy, the optimal approach to IMT remains largely uncertain. In fact, mechanistic studies evaluating physiological adaptations that occur in respiratory muscles of mechanically ventilated patients in response to different training regimens have not been conducted so far.

The aim of this study is to comprehensively investigate changes in respiratory muscle function in response to three different conditions that patients will be exposed to during their period of weaning from mechanical ventilation.

Conditions

  • Weaning Failure

Interventions

OTHER

Procedure: Usual Care (UC)

Intermittent spontaneous breathing periods

OTHER

Procedure: UC + HI-IMT

UC + Supervised daily sessions of training including 4 sets of 6-10 full vital capacity breaths against an external load using a tapered flow resistive device (POWERbreathe KH2, HaB International, UK). The maximum tolerable resistance allowing patients to inhale at least 70% of their inspiratory vital capacity will be chosen and progressively increased throughout the training period.

OTHER

Procedure: UC + LI-IMT (sham IMT)

UC + superrvised daily sessions of training including 4 sets of 6-10 breaths at the lowest external imposable load with the tapered flow resistive device (POWERbreathe KH2, HaB International, UK) (i.e. 3 cmH2O).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • KU Leuven

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-02-01
Primary Completion
2026-10-31
Completion
2026-10-31

Countries

  • Belgium

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04658498 on ClinicalTrials.gov