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 Table of Contents  
EDITORIAL
Year : 2019  |  Volume : 3  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 1-2

Moving the critical care research agenda forward in Saudi Arabia


1 Department of Intensive Care, College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2 Military Medical Services, Ministry of Defense, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Intensive Care, College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
4 Department of Intensive Care, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
5 Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine, King Fahd Hospital of the University-Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
6 Department of Intensive Care, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Date of Web Publication30-May-2019

Correspondence Address:
Yaseen M Arabi
King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Department of Intensive Care, King Abdulaziz Medical City, ICU 1425, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh 11426
Saudi Arabia
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/2543-1854.259476

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How to cite this article:
Arabi YM, Mandourah Y, Al-Hameed FM, Maghrabi K, ALshahrani MS, Sadat M. Moving the critical care research agenda forward in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Crit Care J 2019;3:1-2

How to cite this URL:
Arabi YM, Mandourah Y, Al-Hameed FM, Maghrabi K, ALshahrani MS, Sadat M. Moving the critical care research agenda forward in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Crit Care J [serial online] 2019 [cited 2023 Apr 1];3:1-2. Available from: https://www.sccj-sa.org/text.asp?2019/3/1/1/259476



Great progress has been made in critical care medicine over the two decades, resulting in improved patient outcomes. A key factor behind this progress has been a wealth of critical care research that resulted in better understanding of systems of care, more focused use of effective therapies, and improved translation of research findings into practice. Critical care clinical research consortia have emerged in a number of countries to conduct collaborative wide-scale, high-quality research, to set priorities for research agenda, to evaluate clinically relevant questions encountered in daily clinical practice, to optimize the conduct of research, to build capacity by sharing expertise and resources, and to inform practice.[1],[2] Networks such as the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG), the Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical (ANZICS) Trials Group, and the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network (ARDS Net) are the examples of networks that have been highly effective in promoting global investigator-led, collaborative high-quality randomized controlled trials in critically ill adults.[3] It has become clear that trials conducted by such networks recruit efficiently larger sample sizes, target more clinically important outcomes, are more likely funded, are more frequently published in higher impact journals, and are more likely to influence practice and to be cited.[1]

Research in Saudi Arabia is a central part of the National Vision 2030. The Saudi Critical Care Trials Group (SCCTG) was initiated as a part of the Saudi Critical Care Society with the aim of becoming a leading clinical trial collaboration in the country. The major stakeholders are the leading academic intensivists and other critical care professionals with an active research portfolio. Regular meetings are being held in which participants are invited to present proposals for research projects; hence, these proposals can be discussed, debated, and further developed.

Over the last 2 years, the SCCTG has published several multicenter projects. Many other proposals are being planned and conducted or are at different stages of development. These projects reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the intensive care practice and cover a wide range of important topics. Several important research papers that resulted from this collaboration include the multicenter “Prophylaxis of Thromboembolism in Critically ill Patients Using Combined Intermittent Pneumatic Compression and Pharmacologic Prophylaxis Alone: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial trial.”[4],[5] Several papers on the Middle East respiratory syndrome[5],[6],[7],[8],[9] also resulted from this collaborative work.

The SCCTG has also arranged the BASIC Critical Research course, working with world experts in research training, to build capacity in critical care research. Along this line, work is also in progress for initiating the first clinical research coordinator course in critical care.

The SCCTG has already organized several scientific meetings, workshops, and seminars held over 2–3 days. Each time, investigators from other critical care networks have been invited to give their input and broaden our vision toward establishing the research program. The SCCTG works on promoting high-quality publications in the Saudi Critical Trials Group. This special issue is an example of multidisciplinary research in critical care and is released with the 10th anniversary of the Saudi Critical Care Society.

[Table 1] outlines the mission, vision, values, and strategic goals of the SCCTG. SCCTG aspires to be actively involved in addressing cutting-edge high-priority questions that are patient-centered and to be an active contributor to the science of critical care medicine at the highest standards.
Table 1: Mission, vision, values, and strategic goals of the Saudi Critical Care Trials Group

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Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 
  References Top

1.
Marshall JC, Kwong W, Kommaraju K, Burns KE. Determinants of citation impact in large clinical trials in critical care: The role of investigator-led clinical trials groups. Crit Care Med 2016;44:663-70.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Choong K, Duffett M, Cook DJ, Randolph AG. The impact of clinical trials conducted by research networks in pediatric critical care. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2016;17:837-44.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Marshall JC, Cook DJ; Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. Investigator-led clinical research consortia: The Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. Crit Care Med 2009;37:S165-72.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Arabi YM, Alsolamy S, Al-Dawood A, Al-Omari A, Al-Hameed F, Burns KE, et al. Thromboprophylaxis using combined intermittent pneumatic compression and pharmacologic prophylaxis versus pharmacologic prophylaxis alone in critically ill patients: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials 2016;17:420.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5.
Arabi YM, Al-Omari A, Mandourah Y, Al-Hameed F, Sindi AA, Alraddadi B, et al. Critically ill patients with the Middle East respiratory syndrome: A multicenter retrospective cohort study. Crit Care Med 2017;45:1683-95.  Back to cited text no. 5
    
6.
Arabi YM, Mandourah Y, Al-Hameed F, Sindi AA, Almekhlafi GA, Hussein MA, et al. Corticosteroid therapy for critically ill patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2018;197:757-67.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.
Arabi YM, Deeb AM, Al-Hameed F, Mandourah Y, Almekhlafi GA, Sindi AA, et al. Macrolides in critically ill patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome. Int J Infect Dis 2019;81:184-90.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.
Al-Dorzi HM, Alsolamy S, Arabi YM. Critically ill patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection. Crit Care 2016;20:65.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Shalhoub S, Al-Hameed F, Mandourah Y, Balkhy HH, Al-Omari A, Al Mekhlafi GA, et al. Critically ill healthcare workers with the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS): A multicenter study. PLoS One 2018;13:e0206831.  Back to cited text no. 9
    



 
 
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  [Table 1]


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[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

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