Ecraid’s Perpetual Studies – POS-VAP

As part of COMBACTE, well-performing HONEST-PREPS sites will have the opportunity to transition to Ecraid’s POS-VAP with the prospect of joining future Randomized Controlled Trials.

Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most frequent healthcare associated infections in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a significant burden among ICU patients under invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Several preventive and therapeutic treatment options are being developed in the field of VAP that will require evaluation in future Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). RCTs are the gold standard for evaluating medical interventions but are difficult to perform in a population at risk of, or with, VAP. These trials are challenging since it is difficult to recruit a large enough volume of high-quality centers to achieve the required number of recruited patients, especially if the focus is on specific patient groups (e.g. VAP due to a specific pathogen), for which site selection can be even more challenging and time consuming.

There is a need for a well-organized and well-trained international network of ICUs focusing on VAP research that enables efficient execution of RCTs on diagnostic, preventive, and curative interventions in this population.

Perpetual Observational Studies

The overarching objective of POS-VAP is to build a sustainable European clinical research network of ICUs that serves as platform to facilitate observational and randomized VAP research activities, and to implement through the POS, novel observational studies and RCTs aimed at improving VAP understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Through a Perpetual Observational Study it is possible to provide quick access to a network of sites that fulfill pre-specified criteria. Additionally, the structured network of POS sites will maintain a continuous activity to carry out observational studies in this specific field, implementing informed consent, increasing quality and efficiency, and facilitating contracting.

Currently the study team is looking for 40 ICU sites in 15 European countries to participate in POS-VAP. The minimal planned study duration is 4 years.

Want to participate?

If you would like to take part in the POS-VAP project, to contribute to building the European clinical research network of ICUs, or to implement your observational study or RCT into this platform, please feel free to contact the study team using the contact details shown below.