A new way to treat patients with respiratory failure: lying on the front while awake

ISRCTN ISRCTN11536318
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN11536318
ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT04142736
Submission date
15/09/2021
Registration date
17/09/2021
Last edited
28/02/2025
Recruitment status
Suspended
Overall study status
Suspended
Condition category
Respiratory
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Intubation is when doctor puts a tube down your throat and into your windpipe to make it easier to get air into and out of your lungs. A machine called a ventilator pumps in air with extra oxygen. Hypoxemic respiratory failure means that you don't have enough oxygen in your blood.
It is uncertain whether awake prone positioning (lying on the front) can prevent the need for intubation for invasive ventilation in critically ill patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. Awake prone positioning could benefit these patients for various reasons, including a reduction in direct harm to lung tissue, and prevention of tracheal intubation-related complications.
The aim is to compare standard care with awake prone positioning versus standard care without awake prone positioning in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

Who can participate?
Adult patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

What does the study involve?
Participants will be randomly allocated to be placed into the prone position or to receive treatment as usual. Patients will be followed up for 90 days.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Expected benefits are patient's symptomatology improvement which can hasten recovery, improve long and short term outcomes, reduce ICU and hospital length of stay.
Possible risk are those associated to the procedure, such as removal of catheter or devices already been in placed, worsening hypoxemia resulting in emergent orotracheal intubation.

Where is the study run from?
Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT) (Spain)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2019 to January 2025

Who is funding the study?
Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT) (Spain)

Who is the main contact?
Dr Luis Morales-Quinteros, luchomq2077@gmail.com

Study website

Contact information

Dr Luis Morales-Quinteros
Scientific

Carrer de Sant Quintí, 89
Barcelona
08041
Spain

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-8937-9824
Phone +34 648493973
Email luisfernando.morales@vallhebron.cat

Study information

Study designInternational multicenter randomized controlled clinical 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 titlePRone positioN in patients with spontanEous ventiLation and acute hypoxemic respIratory FailurE- The PRONELIFE Randomized Controlled Trial
Study acronymPRONELIFE
Study objectivesAwake prone position in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure is associated with a decreased need for intubation
Ethics approval(s)Approved 08/09/2021, Quiron Salud IRB (CEIm Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud-Catalunya. Pedro i Pons, 1 08195 Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; +34 93 565 60 00 Ext 5935; ceic.idcsa.cat@idcsalud.es), ref: 2019/68-UCI-HUSC
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedBody position during acute hypoxemic respiratory failure
InterventionPRONE POSITIONING
The study intervention will last for at least 48 hours and is divided into 4 blocks of 6 hours each: patients will be placed in the prone position for up to 2 hours, which can be prolonged if the patient feels comfortable, but could also be interrupted if a patient meets any of the discontinuation criteria which are any of the following:
 developing a contraindication;
 worsening of dyspnea (at any time, according to predefined criteria);
 a further and sustained drop in SpO2 refractory to an increase in FiO2;
 nausea or vomiting; and
 increasing hemodynamic instability that is unrelated to sedatives (if given) and cannot be corrected by vasopressor or inotrope infusion

During the change in position, from supine to prone or from prone to supine, FiO2 will be increased by 25% above baseline. Each change in position is guided by two healthcare workers and an attending physician, but more healthcare workers could be needed. While the patient remains in a prone position, skin protection will be used to avoid pressure sores. Also, the application of cushions will enhance patient tolerance. Arms can be at the side, in a swimmer's position, and can be moved to increase comfort.
Food and comfort breaks are planned while patients are in supine. If the patient is receiving enteral or oral feeding, this is interrupted from 1 hour before prone until a patient is in a supine position.
The best–fitting and most–tolerated oxygen interface will be used in the prone position––this could be different from patient to patient, and different from what is used in the supine position, and could differ between patients but also institutions (i.e., depending on the availability of masks with or without a reservoir bag and with or without the Venturi system, HFNO, CPAP or NIV).

STANDARD OF CARE
In all patients, whether receiving prone positioning or not, the best standard of care is provided, according to the standard care by the local teams.

RANDOMIZATION AND BLINDING
Randomization will be performed using a dedicated password–protected website and will be balanced per center. Central randomization with the use of a permutated–block randomization list (with block sizes of 4 to 8) will be used. Participants will be allocated to the prone positioning or standard care on a 1:1 ratio. By the nature of the intervention it will not be possible to blind clinicians to whether a participant has been randomized to awake prone position or standard care.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measureComposite of tracheal intubation and all–cause mortality in the first 14 days after enrolment measured using patient records
Secondary outcome measuresMeasured using patient records unless otherwise noted:
1. Mortality at day 14
2. Intubation among survivors at day 24
3. Effects on oxygenation defined by the SpO2 at 4 hours
4. Days under the oxygen support device in 28 days
5. Dyspnea defined according modified Borg dyspnea scale at 4 hours
6. Time to tracheal intubation within 14 days
7. Rate of complications related to prone position at 4 hours:
7.1. Oxygen desaturations (SpO2 <90%)
7.2. Episodes of hemodynamic instability (BPsys < 90mmHg or BPsys drop > 10mmHg if BPsys < 90 before the maneuver)
7.3. Need of orotracheal intubation
7.4. Cardiac arrest
7.5. Displacement of the non-invasive respiratory support device
7.6. Removal of central venous line, if documented
7.7. Displacement of an arterial line, if documented
7.8. Displacement of a urinary catheter, if documented
8. Respiratory rate at 4 hours
9. Duration of invasive mechanical ventilation over 90 days
10. Ventilation-free days (VFD) at 28 days from ICU admission, defined as the number of days alive and free from IMV during the first 28 days from start of IMV
11. ICU-free days and hospital-free days at day 90
12. Mortality at day 28 and day 90
Overall study start date04/09/2019
Completion date01/01/2025
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)Participant recruitment issue

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupAdult
Lower age limit18 Years
SexBoth
Target number of participants650
Key inclusion criteria1. >18 years
2. Acute respiratory failure from any cause
3. Admitted to a participating ICU
4. Written informed consent
Key exclusion criteria1. Presence of any contraindication to prone position
2. The patient meets the criteria for intubation
3. Participating in other interventional studies with the same primary outcome
4. Receiving comfort care only
5. Pregnancy
Date of first enrolment07/02/2022
Date of final enrolment01/01/2024

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Ecuador
  • France
  • Spain

Study participating centres

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.
Carrer de Sant Quintí, 89
Barcelona
08041
Spain
Hospital Universitari Sagrat Cor.
Carrer de Viladomat, 288
Barcelona
08029
Spain
Hospital Universitari General de Catalunya.
Carrer Pedro i Pons, 1
Sant Cugat del Vallès
Barcelona
08195
Spain
Fundació Althaia.
C/ Dr. Joan Soler, 1-3
Manresa
Barcelona
08243
Spain
Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso.
Av. Los Arupos y Av. 12 de Abril
Cuenca
010107
Ecuador
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille.
2 Avenue Oscar Lambret
Lille
59000
France

Sponsor information

Institute of Research and Innovation Parc Tauli
Research organisation

Parc del Taulí, 1
Edifici Santa Fe, ala, izquierda, planta 2
Barcelona
080208
Spain

Phone +34 937 23 66 73
Email lfmoralesq@tauli.cat
Website https://www.tauli.cat/es/institut/
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/038c0gc18

Funders

Funder type

Research organisation

Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT)

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date10/07/2025
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryOther
Publication and dissemination planAt the appropriate time, and by mutual consent in consultation with the Steering Committee, it is planned that the results of the clinical study will be published in a scientific journal and presented at national and international conferences. Publication of the complete clinical research should generally be the preferred option. The "Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals International Committee of Medical Journal Editors" and the Spanish law “Ley Orgánica 3/2018, de 5 de diciembre de Protección de Datos Personales y garantía de los derechos digitales (BOE-A-2018-16673)” will be applied.
All publications will comply with data protection requirements covering patient data and data relating to the participating clinicians. Any publication or presentation of this clinical study results requires prior notification and submission to the Steering Committee for purposes of comment and approval.
IPD sharing planAll data generated or analysed during this study will be included in the subsequent results publication

Editorial Notes

28/02/2025: The study has been placed on hold due to low patient recruitment. Contact details updated.
15/02/2022: The recruitment start date has been changed from 01/02/2022 to 07/02/2022.
24/01/2022: The recruitment start date has been changed from 01/01/2022 to 01/02/2022.
17/09/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by Quiron Salud.