Trauma ICU survivors: new study tracks hidden brain decline
NCT ID NCT03098459
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study follows 432 adults who were in the ICU after a traumatic injury or burn. Researchers want to see if and why patients develop long-term problems with memory, thinking, and daily function. By tracking cognitive skills and inflammation over time, they hope to uncover links between trauma and conditions like dementia.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this study could reveal why some trauma patients develop long-term cognitive issues, pointing toward ways to prevent or treat them.
- What could go wrong
- This is an observational study, not a treatment trial. It cannot prove cause and effect, and results may take years to translate into real-world help.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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432 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Nov 2017
- Expected to finish
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Oct 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
Patients will be broadly eligible for inclusion if they are Adult trauma and/or burn patients, injury from any mechanism, requiring admission to an Adult ICU for the treatment of shock (any type), respiratory failure, and/or neurologic failure, including monitoring for deteriorating brain function.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: • Adult trauma and/or burn patients, injury from any mechanism, requiring admission to an Adult ICU for the treatment of shock (any type), respiratory failure, and/or neurologic failure, including monitoring for deteriorating brain function. Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to obtain informed consent within the 72 hours following injury * Attending physician refusal * Patient and/or surrogate refusal * 72-hour period of eligibility was exceeded before the patient was screened * Patient unable to consent and no surrogate available within the 72-hour period * Residence \> 200 miles from study site and do not regularly visit the Nashville area. * Patients who are homeless and have no secondary contact person available. * Severe prior cognitive or neurodegenerative disorder that prevents a patient from living independently at baseline * Inability to understand English or Spanish or bilateral deafness or bilateral vision loss * Inability to co-enroll with other studies * Prisoners * Substance abuse requiring treatment, known psychotic disorder (e.g., schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder), or recent (within the past 6 months) serious suicidal gesture necessitating hospitalization * Expected death within 24 hours of enrollment or lack of commitment to aggressive treatment by family or the medical team (e.g., likely to withdraw life support measures within 24 hours of screening).
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee, 37212, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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