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CompletedNCT03019913Updated Mar 27, 2019

Evaluation of Bedside Methods to Measure Muscularity in Critically Ill Patients

An observational study in Critical Illness, sponsored by La Trobe University. Completed at 1 site in Australia. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-03-27.

Sponsored by La Trobe University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
50
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Muscle wasting is a significant problem in critically ill patients, with reported losses of a half to three percent per day over the first ten days (for an average 70kg person this equates to 3 to 20kg of muscle loss). Low skeletal muscle mass at admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and the loss of lean tissue have been associated with negative clinical outcomes, including increased incidence of infections, length of stay, mortality and muscle weakness. It is therefore crucial that technology is utilised to: 1) identify ICU patients with low muscularity on admission, 2) to help understand the factors impacting muscle loss and to 3) assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at maintaining skeletal muscle mass in this population.

The measurement of lean body mass in patients admitted to the ICU is challenging however, due to the large fluid shifts that occur in this population and logistical issues in moving patients to specialised machinery for body composition analysis. Currently, there is no validated method for accurately assessing a patient's muscle mass at the bedside in the intensive care setting. It is therefore important to investigate the accuracy, feasibility and reliability of bedside methods such as subjective physical assessment of muscle mass, mid arm muscle circumference, ultrasound and bioimpedance analysis to assess muscularity in this population who are primarily bedbound. In order to do this, a critical comparison is required between these methods and muscularity assessed by a "reference" body composition method, such computed tomography (CT) image analysis. Briefly, quantification of skeletal muscle at the abdomen area utilising abdominal CT images has been shown to be highly representative of whole body skeletal muscle volume.

We wish to conduct a pilot, feasibility study (n= 50), which will recruit patients who have a CT scan (containing abdomen area), performed for clinical purposes. Our primary aim will be to investigate whether muscularity assessed with non-invasive bedside methods (ultrasound, bioimpedance analysis, SGA physical assessment, mid arm muscle circumference) are correlated with skeletal muscle mass quantified by a "reference method" (CT image analysis).

Read the detailed description

Aim Our primary aim is to investigate whether muscularity assessed via bedside ultrasound is correlated with a reference method for estimating whole body skeletal muscle mass (CT image analysis) in the first few days of critical illness.

Our secondary aims are

  • To investigate whether muscularity assessed via other bedside methods (bioimpedance spectroscopy, subjective physical assessment and mid arm muscle circumference) are correlated with a reference method for estimating whole body skeletal muscle mass (CT image analysis) in critically ill patients.
  • To better understand the association between measured resting energy expenditure and muscularity in the critically ill.
  • To observe changes in skeletal muscle mass (in a sub set of patients who have two CT scans) and the impact various factors, including energy and protein delivery has on these changes.
02

Conditions studied

  • Critical Illness

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Keywords

  • Skeletal muscle
03

In context

Critical Illness

1,780 studies on the registry are indexed under Critical Illness; 442 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 50 is below the median of 140 across 814 observational studies indexed under Critical Illness.

Browse Critical Illness studies →

Lead sponsor

La Trobe University is the lead sponsor of 8 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Critically ill adults

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Have had a CT scan of the L3 vertebra performed for clinical reasons ≤24 hours before or ≤72 hours after ICU admission

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • CT scan performed >48hrs ago
  • Death is imminent or deemed highly likely in the next 96 hours
  • Are known to be pregnant
  • Treating clinician does not believe the study to be in the best interest of the patient
  • It is not possible to image two or more muscle groups via ultrasound (i.e. due to trauma, burns, wounds)
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • OtherObservational cohort

    Evaluation of bedside methods to measure muscularity in critically ill patients

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Mean skeletal muscle mass measured by CT scan analysis at L3 area (cm2)

    Time frame: CT performed for clinical reasons ≤24 hours before or ≤72 hours after ICU admission

  2. Mean skeletal muscle mass measured by ultrasound (muscle thickness at each site, cm and rectus femoris CSA, cm2)

    Time frame: <48 hours after CT scan containing L3 area

Secondary outcomes

  1. Fat free mass (kg), phase angle and impedance ratio measured by bioimpedance spectroscopy

    Time frame: <48 hours after CT scan containing L3 area

  2. Subjective assessment of muscle and fat wasting via SGA (normal, mild-moderate or severe)

    Time frame: <48 hours after CT scan containing L3 area

  3. Mid arm muscle circumference (cm)

    Time frame: <48 hours after CT scan containing L3 area

  4. Mean skeletal muscle mass measured by CT scan analysis at femoral area (cm2)

    Time frame: CT performed for clinical reasons ≤24 hours before or ≤72 hours after ICU admission

  5. Measured resting energy expenditure (kilojoules)

    Time frame: <48 hours after CT scan containing L3 area

  6. Intramuscular, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue CSA at L3 area (cm2)

    Time frame: CT performed for clinical reasons ≤24 hours before or ≤72 hours after ICU admission

07

Study locations

1 site
  • The Alfred Hospital
    Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Lambell KJ, Tierney AC, Wang JC, Nanjayya V, Forsyth A, Goh GS, Vicendese D, Ridley EJ, Parry SM, Mourtzakis M, King SJ. Comparison of Ultrasound-Derived Muscle Thickness With Computed Tomography Muscle Cross-Sectional Area on Admission to the Intensive Care Unit: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2021 Jan;45(1):136-145. doi: 10.1002/jpen.1822. Epub 2020 Apr 15. PubMed 32291773 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Jan 2017, a primary completion of Mar 2019 and a completion of Mar 2019. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 11, 2017
First posted
Jan 13, 2017
Start
Jan 2017
Primary completionActual
Mar 2019
CompletionActual
Mar 2019
Last update
Mar 27, 2019
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 27, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03019913
Lead sponsor
La Trobe University
Collaborators
The Alfred
Responsible party
Kate Lambell (PhD candidate, Dietitian, La Trobe University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 13, 2017
Start date
Jan 2017
Primary completion
Mar 2019
Completion
Mar 2019
Last update
Mar 27, 2019

Study contacts

Kate Lambell, MNutrDiet
principal investigator · La Trobe University and Alfred Health

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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