A computer-based ventilator protocol (eVentilator) for children with acute respiratory distress syndrome

Previous clinical trials in adults with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have demonstrated that ventilator management choices can improve Intensive Care Unit (ICU) mortality and shorten time on mechanical ventilation. This study seeks to scale an established Clinical Decision Support (CDS) tool to facilitate dissemination and implementation of evidence-based research in mechanical ventilation of infants and children with pediatric ARDS (PARDS).

This will be accomplished by using CDS tools developed and deployed in Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) which are based on the best available pediatric evidence, and are currently being used in an NHLBI funded single center randomized controlled trial (NCT03266016, PI: Khemani). Without CDS, there is significant variability in ventilator management of PARDS patients both between and within Pediatric ICUs (PICUs), but clinicians are willing to accept CDS recommendations. The CDS tool will be deployed in multiple PICUs, targeting enrollment of up to 180 children with PARDS. Study hypotheses:

1. The CDS tool in will be implementable in nearly all participating sites 2. There will be > 80% compliance with CDS recommendations and 3. The investigators can implement automatic data capture and entry in many of the ICUs

Once feasibility of this CDS tool is demonstrated, a multi-center validation study will be designed, which seeks to determine whether the CDS can result in a significant reduction in length of mechanical ventilation (LMV).