Trauma is the worldwide leading cause of death, and the commonest killer of under 35 year olds in the UK.
The Nottingham Trauma Research Group is focused on improving outcomes for trauma, and post traumatic infection.
We aim to understand the pathophysiology of traumatic injury, develop and refine novel therapies for post traumatic infection and investigate the outcomes of established treatments both through interpretation of large data sets, and randomised clinical trials.
We also now offer study awards and prizes to help further trauma research and study.
What we do
1. Randomised Clinical Trials
We have led and successfully completed a number of randomised clinical trials in the trauma and polytrauma setting.
Funded trials in development
- Silver Nails. InnovateUK funded partnership with Smith and Nephew, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Liverpool University. This £1 million grant funded programme is on track to deliver the first in man studies of a Silver Smart Material coating designed to reduce the rates of infection in devastating orthopaedic infections. (PI: Ben Ollivere)
- ORIF. NIHR HTA funded £1.7 million trial to establish the efficiacy and cost effectiveness of rib fracture fixation in the setting of flail chest injuries. This is a seven-centre consortium led by PI Ben Ollivere in collaboration with universities of Oxford, Swansea, Queen Mary and Southampton with co-applicants from Nottingham University Hospitals and Newcastle University Hospitals.
- ERMINE. Co-applicant trial with Swansea University. The feasibility study is complete. ERMINE aims to evaluate the potential for human recombinant erythropoietin to improve outcomes in poly traumatised patients. (PI Ian Pallister, Co-I Ben Ollivere)
Ongoing trials
- EMADE. A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of early physiotherapy versus standard of care. Funded by ARUK and AOUK. Open at three centres. Trainee-PhD (PI Paul Mathews, Supervisors Ben Ollivere, Brigitte Scammell)
- UK-STAR. NIHR HTA Funded national multicentre randomised controlled trial. Investigating plaster versus splint in Achilles tendon rupture. (PI Mathew Costa, Co-App Ben Ollivere)
Completed trials
- Wrist. A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of physiotherapy interventions following conservatively managed wrist fracture. Trainee PhD PI Tim Coughlin, Supervisors Ben Ollivere, Brigitte Scammell
2. Osteomyelitis and Bone Infection
We have active on going research into osteomyelitis and bone infection. Early laboratory work on biomarkers, and potential routes to clinical efficacy studies has been undertaken in collaboration with Liz Sockett, and Richard Pearson
3. Trauma Outcomes group
We have active research into clinical outcomes, both in terms of setting outcomes scores into context and analysis of large datasets. See more information.
Ongoing research
- Core-Kids: A study to develop and validate outcomes that need to be measured in trials of childhood fractures (PhD Ben Marson)
- OCTS : Outcomes after Chest Trauma Score: A study to evaluate patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) for rib fracture alongside the NIHR funded ORIF study (PhD Simon Craxford)
- MCID in Wrist Fractures. Despite the clinical relevance and increasing interest in interventions following wrist fracture there has been no work done on the outcome measures to establish the Minimally Clinically Important Difference in wrist fractures for the most commonly used outcome scores. (PhD Tim Coughlin)
- Outcomes following severe open tibial fracture. A programme of qualitative, quantitative and registry studies are being undertaken by PhD Student Jess Nightingale under the supervision of Ben Ollivere and Brigitte Scammell.
Completed research
One of the only qualitative studies undertaken in young hip fracture was completed as part of a dual supervision PhD, and has formed the basis for subsequent work.
4. Large Dataset work
We have been undertaking novel work linking registry data with the established methods of competing risks to apply cutting edge epidemiology methods to nationally collected data bases.
Publications
Our research is published in leading peer-reviewed papers, and is detailed on each investigator's website.