Patient management before knee ligament surgery
Hayley Carter
Hayley’s PhD research investigates the management of patients following a knee ligament (anterior cruciate ligament) injury. The anterior cruciate ligament is the most commonly injured ligament in the knee. Treatment options include: 1) surgery, 2) rehabilitation or 3) rehabilitation with the option to proceed with surgery later. Some patients manage well without surgery and can return to their normal activities. However, others experience ongoing pain and instability and are unable to return to normal and so proceed with surgery. Research to date is inconclusive and we currently don’t know which treatment option is right for which patient.
Hayley’s research aimed to develop an intervention that helps patients after their injury. This has involved interviewing patients to develop the intervention with patients and key stakeholders through a consensus study. The developed intervention is a shared decision-making tool to help patients decide on the management of their injury. The intervention is currently being trialling in a feasibility study in the NHS.
The consensus study also resulted in the development of treatment recommendations to support standardisation of practice following an anterior cruciate ligament injury across the UK. The treatment recommendations and shared decision-making intervention will help support best practice management for patients with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
Hayley says:
The NRC is an excellent facility, combining clinical practice with research, innovation, education and training. Communication between clinical practice and research is vital to ensure research is clinically relevant and the results of research are driven into practice. The NRC embodies the importance of this and will be a gold standard hub delivering ambitious, novel research and evidence-based rehabilitation”. The NRC Clinical and Academic Partnership (NCAP) brings together a ‘hub and spoke’ network of more than 20 universities across the country allowing exciting new collaborations between hundreds of rehabilitation researchers and clinicians. Hayley says “this partnership will be invaluable to make a difference. It will lead to improved patient care and outcomes, showcasing the value of rehabilitation
Hayley Carter, Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow, NIHR302104 is funded by Health Education England (HEE) / NIHR for this research project.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.