Aerosol Therapy in Intensive Care Units: a Prospective Observation Study

Patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) are usually critically ill. Aerosol inhalation therapy is important for these patients. Aerosol inhalation therapy refers to a local administration method in which a drug is made into aerosol particles having a very small diameter and is inhaled by a patient and the drug directly acts on the airway. Unlike in the outpatient setting, delivery of aerosols to ICU patients may be considered complex, particularly in ventilated patients. Large particles generated by any aerosol device are trapped in the ventilator circuit and artificial airways. Moreover, the percentage of the emitted drug that is delivered past artificial airways as aerosol is lower with larger particle size. Successful delivery of aerosolized medications to ICU patients depends upon the selection of the aerosol device and its installation position, the humidification condition, and the adjustment of the ventilator mode and parameters, etc. Therefore, physicians and health-care professionals working in ICU must be adequately trained in the proper use of each aerosol device and other aerosol inhalation techniques. Otherwise, patients will receive a suboptimal dose that will not be beneficial. An international multi-center cross-sectional survey has shown that a considerable portion of aerosol inhalation therapy for patients with invasive and non-invasive ventilation need to be regulated. And there is currently little guidance or information on standards of practice in aerosol therapy. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out this study to investigate and evaluate the current clinical treatment of aerosol therapy, in order to carry out relevant education and training, and ultimately develop the standards of aerosol inhalation therapy practice in ICU.

Purpose The aim of the present work was to assess the frequency, modalities of aerosol therapy in critically ill patients either breathing spontaneously or undergoing invasive or noninvasive (NIV) ventilation.

Method This prospective cross-sectional point prevalence study will be carried out over 14 days in several intensive care units. Centers are recruited on a voluntary basis.

During the study period, characteristics of each ICU patient will be prospectively recorded each day. If patients receive inhaled medication during the study period, extensive data such as the selection of the aerosol device and its installation position will be recorded.

Data will be entered into a database and analyses will be performed using SPSS soft ware . The 95 % confidence interval (CI95) of proportions are calculated for the main variables of aerosol therapy. A p value lower than 0.05 is considered significant.