Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: A Randomised, Double-blind, Multi-centre Placebo Controlled Trial of Dexmedetomidine for Patients With Agitation and Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit
Brief Summary: The primary aim of the DahLIA trial is to determine, in patients with ICU-associated delirium and agitation who are otherwise pathophysiologically stable (as defined), the number of ventilator-free hours in the incident ICU admission in the 7 days following commencement of trial medication, in patients randomised to receive dexmedetomidine or placebo while receiving all other aspects of standard care.

The null hypothesis assumes no difference in the median number of ventilator-free hours in this ICU admission in the following 7 days, between patients receiving dexmedetomidine and placebo for ICU-associated agitation and delirium.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

Patients will be eligible for the study if, in the opinion of the treating clinician, they continue to require mechanical ventilation only because their degree of agitation requires such a high dose of sedative medication (midazolam or propofol, the only commonly used specific sedatives in our unit) that extubation is not possible, AND in the opinion of their treating intensivist their agitation is so severe as to make lessening their sedation unsafe.

These criteria will be objectively quantified as follows:

* they have required either mechanical restraint and/or anti-delirium or sedative medication in the 4 hours prior to seeking consent AND
* their Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) test is positive for delirium in the 4 hours prior to seeking consent AND
* their Motor Activity Assessment Scale (MAAS) score is 5 or more in the 4 hours prior to seeking consent, confirming psychomotor agitation AND
* their SOFA score is less than or equal to 5 in the 4 hours prior to seeking consent, predicting a mortality or around 5%.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Age less than 18 years old
* Pregnancy or breastfeeding
* Advanced dementia (in the premorbid state requiring professional nursing care)
* Open or closed head injury
* Death is deemed imminent and inevitable
* The patient has previously been enrolled in the DahLIA study
* Patients who could not be extubated, or who would be intubated within the following 48 hours, even if delirium or agitation were corrected. This will include:

  * Patients receiving high dose opioid for analgesia (not sedation) ( \> 40 mg/morphine/day)
  * Patients shortly to return to the operating theatre
  * Patients undergoing repeated invasive procedures, in whom it is desirable to maintain deep sedation
  * Patients likely to require ongoing airway protection or control, or ventilatory support (for example, spinal patients with an inadequate vital capacity)
* Known allergy to haloperidol or alpha 2 agonists
B: Inclusion Criteria

1. Patients intubated and mechanical ventilated for \< 72 hours
2. Age \> 18 years
3. Baseline independent functional status as assessed by a Barthel Index score \> 70 collected from a proxy reflecting baseline health 2 weeks prior to critical illness

Exclusion Criteria

1. Rapidly evolving neurological/neuromuscular disease
2. Cardiac arrest
3. Irreversible conditions with six month mortality estimated at \> 50%
4. Elevated intracranial pressure
5. Multiple absent limbs (precluding complete musculoskeletal examination)
6. Enrollment in another trial
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* Male or female adult patients admitted to the medical and surgical ICU for critical illnesses requiring mechanical ventilation with expectation of being mechanically ventilated for greater than 24 hours

Exclusion Criteria:

* Subjects who are less than 18 years of age
* Subjects who are pregnant (a pregnancy test will be performed on all women of child bearing age)
* Inability to obtain informed consent from the patient or his/her surrogate
* Subjects in the ICU due to a lack of beds elsewhere in the hospital, triage issues, or withdrawal of care decisions rather than severity of illness
* Subjects admitted with alcohol or drug overdoses, suicide attempts, or alcohol/delirium tremens
* Subjects who are physiologically benzodiazepine dependent, and at risk for withdrawal syndromes
* Subjects with chronic pain syndromes on maintenance narcotics
* Subjects treated within the last 30 days with a drug or device that has not received regulatory approval as of study entry
* Subjects with a psychiatric history for which they are on neuroleptic treatment
* Subjects with documented moderate to severe dementia
* Subjects with anoxic brain injuries, strokes, neurotrauma, or neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis or Guillain Barre syndrome
* Medical team following patient unwilling to use the sedation regimens
* Subjects whose family and/or physician have not committed to aggressive support for 72 hours or who are likely to withdraw within 72 hours
* Subjects who are moribund and not expected to survive 24 hours
* Subjects not expected to survive hospital discharge due to preexisting uncorrectable medical condition
* Documented allergy to study medications
* Subjects who have either Child-Pugh Class B or C cirrhosis
* Subjects with active coronary artery disease at time of screening as defined by any recent evidence of ischemia, documented myocardial infarction, or coronary intervention within the past 6 months.
* Subjects with advanced heart block at time of screening
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* 18 years of age or over
* Mechanically ventilated, with anticipated need for MV ≥48 hrs
* ICU team has decided to initiate continuous sedative/analgesic infusion(s)
* informed consent from patient and/or SDM

Exclusion Criteria

* Admission after resuscitation from cardiac arrest
* Traumatic brain injury
* Currently receiving neuromuscular blocking agents
* Allergy to midazolam and lorazepam
* Lack of commitment to aggressive treatment
* Previous enrolment in SLEAP, or current enrolment in related trial

Answer: A