MuScle WastIng and DysphaGia iN CriticAlly IlL Patients (SIGNAL)

Recruiting now

Conditions studied: Critical Illness, Dysphagia, Muscle Wasting in Critically Ill, Swallowing Disorders

In brief

The goal of this study is to find out how muscle wasting in the mouth and throat affects swallowing (dysphagia) in adults who are critically ill and being treated in intensive care units. The main aims of this research study are to understand: how much and how quickly the oral and suprahyoid muscles waste in critically ill participants, and whether muscle wasting causes problems with swallowing. The investigators will compare critically ill participants with non-critically ill participants to determine if muscle wasting is linked to swallowing problems. In this study, participants will have the size and strength of their mouth and throat muscles measured at four different times during their critical care admission and hospital stay. Tests will also be performed to check how well and how safely participants can swallow. Tongue strength will be measured, and participants will answer questions about their experience with swallowing and eating using patient-reported outcome measures. This study may help identify better ways to diagnose and treat swallowing problems in people who are critically ill, to support safe eating and drinking and promote faster recovery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07076524

Run by

Barts & The London NHS Trust

People needed

160

Starts

2025-08-01

Expected to finish

2028-01-31

Last updated by the study team

2025-11-18

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Adults >18 years
• Receiving mechanical ventilation via endotracheal tube and/or tracheostomy. Expected to receive ventilation for at least 72 hours.
• Expected to survive admission and spend more than 7 days in the intensive care unit.
• Control participants
• Adults >18 years
• Receiving ward-based care.
• Expected to survive hospital admission. Present with a primary medical diagnosis of acute medical or surgical illness, not requiring critical care admission.

You may not qualify if…

• Applies to both critically ill and control participants.
• Pregnancy
• Patients with a diagnosis of a primary neuromuscular pathology (e.g., motor neurone disease), central nervous system disease (e.g., stroke, Guillain barre), traumatic brain injury, connective tissue disease (e.g., scleroderma), head and neck cancer, previous surgery or radiotherapy to the head and neck.

Where it is running

• Royal London Hospital — London, United Kingdom (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.