An observational study in Sepsis, Sepsis and Septic Shock and Sepsis at Intensive Care Unit, sponsored by Region Örebro County. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-02-18.
Sponsored by Region Örebro County · Observational
Sepsis is a serious condition where the body's immune response to infection overreacts, leading to organ damage and death. Venous congestion, a buildup of blood in the veins, can occur in sepsis and contribute to organ injury. VExUS (Venous Excess Ultrasound Score) is an ultrasound method that can detect congestion early. This study examines whether ICU nurses, after training, can perform VExUS reliably, explores their experiences, and investigates links between VExUS findings and clinical outcomes.
Sepsis is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that happens when the body's defense system overreacts to an infection. This overreaction can reduce the oxygen supply to the body's organs, causing damage and, in severe cases, organ failure. Up to 30% of people with sepsis die from it, and it is one of the most common causes of death in intensive care units.
Venous congestion, which means blood builds up in the veins, can occur in sepsis-for example, due to fluid overload or reduced heart function. This condition has been linked to organ injury. The VExUS (Venous Excess Ultrasound Score) is an ultrasound-based method that evaluates blood flow in the body's main veins. It has shown promise for identifying patients with venous congestion early. By using VExUS, it may be possible to detect the risk of organ injury sooner in intensive care patients with sepsis.
Ultrasound is becoming an increasingly important diagnostic tool in intensive care and is now often used directly at the bedside. Doctors already use ultrasound in many clinical situations and have extensive experience with it. Intensive care nurses, however, have had less opportunity to use ultrasound. Increasing their skills in this area could improve patient care.
VExUS is a relatively simple method that assesses blood flow in central veins without requiring precise measurements, making it well suited as an introduction to ultrasound use.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether intensive care nurses, after training, can perform VExUS on sepsis patients reliably. In the long term, this study could lead to intensive care nurses routinely performing VExUS as part of their hemodynamic assessment of patients.The study also explores the nurses' experiences and confidence with the method, including interviews. In addition, it investigates whether venous congestion identified by VExUS is linked to clinical outcomes.
1,078 studies on the registry are indexed under Shock, Septic; 232 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 46 is below the median of 108 across 406 observational studies indexed under Shock, Septic.
Browse Shock, Septic studies →Region Örebro County is the lead sponsor of 124 studies on the registry; 29 are open to participants now.
Compared within Shock, Septic, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Sepsis. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Intensive care nurses with a specialist degree in intensive care and intensive care patients with sepsis.
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.
Intensive Care Nurses a) Intensive care nurse, specialist degree in intensive care. b) ≥1,5 years of experience in intensive care. c) ≥75% clinical employment rate at the ICU. d) Continued employment until 2026 at the ICU at Örebro University Hospital. e) Written Intensive Care Patients
Exclusion Criteria:
Intensive Care Nurses
a) Personnel with primarily an administration position or less clinical duty at the ICU.
Intensive Care Patients
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Intensive care nurses that perform hemodynamic diagnostic ultrasound acording to the VExUS protocol
Behavioral: Education in performing hemodynamic diagnostic ultrasound of venous congestion
Intensive care patients with sepsis
Diagnostic Test: Hemodynamic diagnostic ultrasound of venous congestion
Educational program in performing hemodynamic diagnostic ultrasound of venous congestion
Hemodynamic diagnostic ultrasound of venous congestion
Also known as: VeXUS
Intensive care nurses' VExUS performance
Intensive care nurses' performance, regarding ultrasound image quality and assessment of ultrasound images according to VExUS protocol, evaluated by two experts.
Time frame: two years
Intra-rater VExUS reliability
Agreement of assessments of prior collected ultrasound images, according to VExUS protocol, performed by the same intensive care nurse.
Time frame: two years
Inter-rater VExUS reliability
Agreement of assessments of prior collected ultrasound images according to VExUS protocol performed by different intensive care nurses.
Time frame: two years
Inter-rater VExUS image agreement
Agreement of the ability to obtain ultrasound images according to VExUS protocol performed on the same intensive care patients by different intensive care nurses, in temporal proximity.
Time frame: two years
Venous congestion measured by VExUS and fluid status
Association of presence of venous congestion assessed by VExUS over time in septic intensive care patients and daily measures used to monitor fluid status, such as daily weight, daily fluid balance and cumulative fluid balance.
Time frame: two years
Venous congestion measured by VExUS and clinical outcomes
Association of presence of venous congestion assessed by VExUS over time in septic intensive care patients and clinical outcomes determined by mortality in the ICU, 30 days mortality, ICU length of stay, hospital length of stay, SOFA score, time in assisted ventilation, need of vasoactive agents, gastrointestinal dysfunction, acute kidney injury and physiological variables.
Time frame: two years
Intensive care nurses' self-efficacy, confidence and experiences
Differences in intensive care nurses' perceived self-efficacy and confidence at various time points during data collection, along with their experiences.
Time frame: two years
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Nov 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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