Preventing awareness during paralysis in emergency ventilated patients and reducing PTSD
Official title: Awareness with Paralysis and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Mechanically Ventilated Emergency Department Survivors: The ED-AWARENESS-2 Study
Funded at Washington University · NIH-11325301 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will change emergency department medication defaults to cut back on a paralytic drug and see if that lowers the chance that adults put on ventilators wake up while paralyzed and later develop PTSD.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Saint Louis, United States) |
| Project start | March 5, 2023 |
| Project end | February 29, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $641,432 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL162721-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11325301 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults who receive mechanical ventilation (endotracheal intubation) in one of the participating emergency departments are the intended group for this work.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not mechanically ventilated, children, or patients treated at hospitals not participating in the trial are unlikely to be affected by this intervention.
What this research studies
If you need a breathing tube in the emergency department, participating hospitals will roll out timing-based changes that make clinicians less likely to give the paralytic drug rocuronium. The project uses a stepped-wedge design so different EDs adopt the changes at different times and researchers compare what happens before and after each change. Investigators will track patients' medical records and ask survivors about memories of awareness during paralysis and PTSD symptoms. The goal is to find practical, scalable ways to prevent traumatic awareness and related psychological harm after emergency ventilation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce instances of waking during paralysis and lower the long-term risk of PTSD for people mechanically ventilated in the ED.
How similar studies have gone: Behavioral nudges and default changes have improved other clinical practices, but using them to reduce paralytic use and prevent awareness in ED-ventilated patients is a new application with limited prior direct evidence.
Where this research is happening
-
Washington University
Saint Louis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fuller, Brian M — Washington University
- Study coordinator: Fuller, Brian M
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.