The Effects of Endotracheal Suctioning on Pain and Serum Markers

Summary

The goal of this experimental study is to understand if endotracheal tube (ETT) suctioning increases pain and causes stress on the body in intubated adult ICU patients. These patients are already on ventilators, which means they need suctioning to keep their airways clear, but this procedure may be uncomfortable and cause stress.

The main questions this study aims to answer are:

Does ETT suctioning raise pain levels as measured by the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT)? Does ETT suctioning increase certain chemicals in the blood (hypoxanthine, xanthine, and uric acid) that show stress and lack of oxygen in the body? Researchers will compare patients who have ETT suctioning (intervention group) with those who do not have suctioning during the study period (control group) to see if there are differences in pain and blood markers of stress.

Participants will:

Have pain measured before and after suctioning using the CPOT. Have blood samples taken from an existing line at three time points: 5 minutes before, 5 minutes after, and 30 minutes after suctioning.

Provide demographic information (like age, gender, and diagnosis) from medical records.

This research will help improve how pain is managed for ICU patients who cannot speak for themselves, potentially leading to better pain relief methods in the future.

Conditions

• Intensive Care Unit ICU
• Intubation
• Critical Illness
• Mechanical Ventilation
• Pain Measurement
• Pain, Procedural
• Oxidative Stress
• Hypoxia
• Biomarkers / Blood
• Adult
• Uric Acid
• Sepsis
• COVID
• Influenza
• Pneumonia

Interventions

PROCEDURE

endotracheal tube suctioning

Endotracheal tube suctioning occurs as part of normal care for intubated patients. This procedure will serve as the painful procedure to assess CPOT and biomarkers of hypoxia and oxidative stress.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Loma Linda University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Elizabeth Johnston Taylor, PhD, FAAN · Loma Linda University School of Nursing

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-01-30

Primary Completion

2026-04-30

Completion

2026-04-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations