Clinical Research Directory

Developing a Decision Instrument to Guide Abdominal-pelvic CT Imaging of Blunt Trauma Patients

Unrecognized abdominal and pelvic injuries can result in catastrophic disability and death. Sporadic reports of "occult" injuries have generated concern, and physicians, fearing that they may miss such an injury, have adopted the practice of obtaining computed tomography on virtually all patients with significant blunt trauma. This practice exposes large numbers patients to dangerous radiation at considerable expense, while detecting injuries in a small minority of cases. Existing data suggest that a limited number of criteria can reliably identify blunt injury victims who have "no risk" of abdominal or pelvic injuries, and hence no need for computed tomography (CT), without misidentifying any injured patient. It is estimated that nationwide implementation of such criteria could result in an annual reduction in radiographic charges of $75 million, and a significant decrease in radiation exposure and radiation induced malignancies. This study seeks to determine whether "low risk" criteria can reliably identify patients who have sustained significant abdominal or pelvic injuries and safely decrease CT imaging of blunt trauma patients. This goal will be accomplished in the following manner: All blunt trauma victims undergoing computed tomography of the abdomen/pelvis in the emergency department will undergo routine clinical evaluations prior to radiographic imaging. Based on these examinations, the presence or absence of specific clinical findings (i.e. abdominal/pelvic/flank pain, abdominal/pelvic/flank tenderness, bruising abrasions, distention, hip pain, hematuria, hypotension, tachycardia, low or falling hematocrit, intoxication, altered sensorium, distracting injury, positive FAST imaging, dangerous mechanism, abnormal x-ray imaging) will be recorded for each patient, as will the presence or absence of abdominal or pelvic injuries. The clinical findings will serve as potential imaging criteria. At the completion of the derivation portion of the study the criteria will be examined to find a subset that predicts injury with high sensitivity, while simultaneously excluding injury, and hence the need for imaging, in the remaining patients. These criteria will then be confirmed in a separate validation phase of the study. The criteria will be considered to be reliable if the lower statistical confidence limit for the measured sensitivity exceeds 98.0%. Potential reductions in CT imaging will be estimated by determining the proportion of "low-risk" patients that do not have significant abdominal or pelvic injuries.

Fragility Fractures of the Pelvis (FFP)

Prospective data will be collected in approximately 420 patients, above the age of 65, suffering from an FFP type fracture equal to or higher than type II, according to Rommens and Hofmann. Patients will be followed up according to the standard (routine) for up to 1 year after the treatment. Data collection will include underlying disease, treatment details, functional and patient reported outcomes (PRO)s, radiological outcomes, and anticipated or procedure-related adverse events (i.e. complications).

Pelvic and Acetabular Fracture: A Prospective Observational Study

The purpose of this study is to understand the trajectory of function and self-reported outcomes of patients following pelvic and acetabular, treated both operatively and nonoperatively.

Titanium Fusion Implant in Combination With Trans-iliac Screws for Insufficiency Fractures of the Pelvis

Many approaches to the surgical treatment of OF-P have been tried, but no one method has stood out as particularly successful. The placement of three implants, including implants that could minimise motion in the sacroiliac joint through early fixation and long-term fusion of the sacroiliac joint, can prevent micromotion in the fracture and thereby improve the clinical outcome of OF-Ps. The iFuse-3D implant was shown to be safe and effective for chronic sacroiliac pain in non-osteoporotic patients. The primary aim is to assess the proportion of patients operated on using iFuse-3D in conjunction with transiliac-transsacral screws who regain pre-fracture mobility by the time of hospital discharge.

A Snapshot Audit of Traumatic Pelvic Ring Injuries

Multicenter, snapshot cohort studies or audits have the ability to gather large patient numbers in short time periods from many healthcare systems with different resources or practices of care concerning one specific surgical condition. This type of studies allows exploration of differences in patient populations and management across the sampled cohort to identify areas of practice variability that may result in apparent differences in outcome. As such, whilst not providing true evidence of efficacy or the impact of a single variable on overall outcome, these studies can be hypothesis-generating and identify areas warranting further study in future randomized controlled trials (1). Snapshots also shed light on the real world practice, rather than the presumed or guideline suggested patient care (2). Traumatic Pelvic Ring Injuries (TPRI) represent a broad spectrum of trauma-associated pathologies with a distinct bimodal age distribution in patients admitted through the Emergency Departments of all acute care hospitals. In younger patients, this type of injury is often associated with high-energy trauma, hemodynamic instability, high mortality and morbidity rates (3-6). In the elderly population, pelvic fractures result from low energy trauma mechanisms (e.g. ground level fall) and can affect the long-term independency and life quality of geriatric patients (7). There is substantial variation in the management of pelvic ring injuries among pelvic trauma surgeons; these variations include but are not limited to the timing of definitive fixation, the indications and protocols of conservative treatment, and the appropriate osteosynthesis of the anterior and/or posterior pelvic fractures (8). This 'ESTES snapshot audit' -a prospective observational cohort study- has a dual purpose. Firstly, as an epidemiological study, it aims to report the burden of injury in specific hospitals, distributed widely throughout Europe. Secondly, this study aims to demonstrate current strategies for both, younger (after high-energy trauma) and geriatric patients (after low-energy trauma) employed to assess and treat these patients. These twin aims will serve to provide a 'snapshot' of current medical practice, but will also be hypothesis-generating while providing a rich source of patient-level data to allow further analysis of particular clinical questions. The acquired study data can be subsequently evaluated and compared to patient data of established pelvic trauma registries across Europe.

Impact of a Clinical Pathway for Pelvic Fragility Fractures

Patients with pelvic fragility fractures suffer from high morbidity and mortality rates. Despite the high incidence of these injuries, there is currently no regional or nationwide treatment protocol which results in a wide variety of clinical practice. New insights in treatment strategies, such as early diagnosis and minimal invasive operative treatment of these fragile patient population, has led to the development of several clinical pathways in recent literature. The aim of this study is to implement an evidence and experience-based treatment clinical pathway to improve the outcomes in this fragile patient population that currently has multifactorial risks for poor outcome.