Early Mobilization Interventions in the Intensive Care Unit: Ongoing and Unpublished Randomized Trials

Background. Critical care societies recommend early mobilization (EM) as standard practice in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. However, there is limited randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence supporting EM’s effectiveness. Our objective was to identify ongoing or completed RCTs assessing EM’s effectiveness in the ICU. Method. We searched ClinicalTrials.gov and the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry for ongoing or completed but not published RCTs in an ICU setting with objective outcome measures. Results. There were 14 RCTs included in the analysis. All studies were in the general or mixed ICU setting (N=14). Half of the studies (N=7) were small RCTs (