Effect of Lung Ultrasound-Guided Fluid Deresuscitation on Duration of Ventilation in Intensive Care Unit Patients (CONFIDENCE)
Timely recognition and treatment of fluid overload can expedite liberation from invasive mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is an easy to learn, safe, cheap and noninvasive bedside imaging tool with high accuracy for pulmonary edema and pleural effusions in ICU patients. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of LUS-guided deresuscitation on duration of invasive ventilation in ICU patients. The investigators hypothesize that LUS-guided fluid deresuscitation is superior to routine fluid deresuscitation (not using LUS) with regard to duration of invasive ventilation. This study is an international multicenter randomized clinical trial (RCT) in invasively ventilated ICU patients.This study will include 1,000 consecutively admitted invasively ventilated adult ICU patients, who are expected not to be extubated within the next 24 hours after randomization. Patients are randomly assigned to the intervention group, in which fluid deresuscitation is guided by repeated LUS, or the control group, in which fluid deresuscitation is at the discretion of the treating physician (not using LUS).
• Admission to one of the participating ICUs;
• Invasively ventilated for less than 24 hours at randomization;
• Expected to be under invasive ventilation for longer than 24 hours after randomization.