United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

To compare the effectiveness of reducing discomfort during flexible nasal endoscopy using simple distraction techniques compared to topical anaesthetic spray and a control group that does not receive topical anaesthetic spray or a distraction technique.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition where a person's own good and useful germs, live in parts of the bowel where there should not be any germs. It may cause difficult tummy and bowel symptoms in a wide variety of patient groups. Increasing evidence suggests that sometimes small intestinal bacterial overgrowth can also trigger or worsen diseases which do not have any bowel symptoms at all.
It is hugely under-diagnosed in clinical practice. Part of the reason for this is that current available diagnostic tests - culture of fluid sampled from the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract or breath testing, are complicated to do, difficult for the patient, and are not completely accurate. Therefore, the potential for a simple, more accurate test to revolutionise the diagnosis and aid with the treatment of this condition is immense.
When it is accurately diagnosed, treatment with antibiotics can cure the patient of their tummy or bowel symptoms.
Based on previous research the investigators have conducted, it is believed that it might be possible to diagnose this condition in a simpler and more accurate way by examining urine samples. This study will also investigate whether the condition could be diagnosed more accurately using a blood test, a different sort of breath test or using a mouth swab.
The proposed study will be conducted at Lincoln County Hospital, in collaboration with Joseph Banks Laboratory at the University of Lincoln. Additional urine, blood, swab and breath samples from patients with and without small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, before and after antibiotic treatment to identify specific molecular markers in urine, blood and saliva samples which diagnosis small intestinal bacterial overgrowth accurately.

Research to date suggests that encouraging increased physical activity and exercise engagement may be an effective way to improve symptoms, fitness, quality of life, and reduce time spent in hospital for bronchiectasis sufferers. However, relatively few patients continue to engage with exercise programs that are of benefit to their health and symptoms. Barriers to exercise are thought to include time constraints and the use of specialist equipment (e.g. cycle ergometers) which may not be available or accessible in the home (or hospital) setting. With these points in mind, there is growing interest in brief, relatively intense, interval exercise interventions for chronic lung disease sufferers as they require minimal equipment and may more easily translate back into the home setting. Of the types of approach this might include, both stair-based and walk-based interval exercise appear to be relatively safe, practical, and time-efficient ways to improve physical fitness and quality of life in previously untrained and clinical populations. However, the feasibility and effectiveness of their use by chronic lung disease patients, particularly those with bronchiectasis, is yet to be properly examined. The investigators therefore intend to recruit 10 bronchiectasis patients to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of minimal-equipment interval exercise interventions in this population. More specifically, the investigators would like to observe patients' acute physical and perceptual responses to four different step and walk-based protocols which have been established for other clinical populations. The investigators also wish to explore whether these protocols are engaged with, and enjoyed, during a six week unsupervised exercise intervention (in the home), as well as the effects of this six week unsupervised exercise period on physical fitness. This project will hopefully make a valuable contribution to the limited research to have examined the real-world application and impact of interval-type exercise interventions on exercise behaviour, health, and symptoms in bronchiectasis sufferers.