Craniomaxillofacial and Upper Extremity Allotransplantation
Face InjuriesHand Injuries4 moreThe purpose of this study is to evaluate functional and aesthetic outcomes of combined facial and upper extremity composite tissue allografts on patients who have not achieved functional and aesthetic outcomes with conventional reconstructive surgical strategies and prosthetic devices.
CAT BITE Antibiotic Prophylaxis for the Hand/Forearm (CATBITE)
Cat BiteHand Injuries4 moreCat bites are puncture wounds that have the potential to seed bacteria deep within the joint capsule, periosteum, and bone. The hand is the most common site of bite injuries. Pasteurella multocida is the is the most common organism isolated from the mouths of cats that can cause infections after a bite. Prophylactic antibiotics are often recommended with amoxicillin-clavulanate for 3-5 days to decrease the incidence of developing an infection. However, only one randomized controlled clinical trial consisting of 12 patients has been performed to justify this course of treatment, raising the possibility that the use of antibiotics could be reduced or even eliminated. Investigators will compare different durations of prophylactic antibiotics and a placebo control for cat bites to the hand/forearm presenting to the Emergency Department, Urgent Care, Plastic Surgery Clinic using a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Participants presenting to the University of Missouri Hospital Emergency Department, Missouri University (MU) Healthcare Urgent Care, Plastic Surgery Clinic over the next year will be offered the chance to enroll if they meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. For inclusion, participants will be >18 years of age, have cat bites to the hand or distal to elbow, and present within 24 hours of the cat bite injury. Participants must not present with active local or systemic infections, have received antibiotics within the past 30 days, or be immunocompromised (primary and secondary immunodeficiencies). Participants will be randomized to one of three treatment arms (placebo; amoxicillin-clavulanate 1 day; amoxicillin-clavulanate 5 days). Outcomes are the development of an infection at the location of the cat bite and/or systemic infection, adverse effects of interventions, disability assessed by Quick Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) scores, and quality of life (QOL) assessed by HAND Questionnaire (HAND-Q) scores. Infection will be assessed at day 0, day 2, day 7+/-2, day 14+/-2, and day 30+/-2 by vital signs, laboratory values, physical examination and with an infrared and digital camera. All measures will be within the standard of care, apart from the infrared camera, QuickDASH, and HAND-Q scores. The anatomic locations of cat bites to the hand/forearm will be assessed for correlations with infections.
Lower Tourniquet Pressure Study
Hand InjuriesUpper Extremity InjuryThis study design is a prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial evaluating the quality of bloodless surgical field with lower tourniquet pressures based on systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared to standard tourniquet pressures. A secondary goal is to evaluate the effect of lower tourniquet pressures on post-operative tourniquet site pain. The rationale behind the study is to provide evidence-based guidelines on tourniquet use to continue providing quality surgical care while minimizing pain and potential harm to patients.
SoftHand Comparison Study
Upper Extremity InjuryUpper Extremity Deformities5 moreA trial to compare the performance of the SoftHand Pro (SHP) and Ossur i-Limb in people with transradial limb loss over an 8-week period.
A STudy of Upper Arm Rehabilitation in Stroke Survivors- ASTAR
StrokeUpper Limb Injury1 moreThis feasibility study will explore the clinical effectiveness of additional upper limb therapy compared to standard care delivered to Stroke Survivors at Sussex Rehabilitation Centre (SRC). Randomization via sealed envelope will allocate treatment group to either routine care or upper limb training for self-management plus routine care. If randomized to upper limb training, a patient will undertake 10 therapy sessions with an instructor from the Action for Rehabilitation for Neurological Injury (ARNI) program during their hospital stay. The last two ARNI-led sessions will be filmed by a nurse/carer on either their own tablet/phone or an i-pad. Participants in the ARNI group will be encouraged to continue doing their personalized exercises while in hospital and continued at home. The participants in the ARNI group will also be given a task-training board to take home. This randomized controlled trial will measure outcomes of each group over six months. Each patient in the study will have upper limb physical measurements taken by a blinded Research Nurse (RN2) at baseline. Research Nurse (RN1) will gather data in a Clinical Report File from a weekly exercise diary completed by the patient or carer and well-being questionnaires. On discharge, RN2 will conduct upper limb measurements, collect completed hospital diaries and issue new ones to take4 home. RN1 will give a weekly phone call or text reminders so that patients to complete exercise diaries at home. At 6 months RN2 will do final measurements and complete patient questionnaires in an out patients clinic visit. The investigators aim to recruit 36 patients and anticipate 30(8.3%) will complete the 6 month follow-up. The study sponsor will be the University of Sussex. However, as the study is run in rehabilitation unit in an NHS hospital, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust will host the study.
MOdularity for SEnsory Motor Control
StrokeIschemic2 moreFor this project the investigators ask, how the activation and organization of muscle synergies may be disrupted by brain lesions, and whether it is possible to modify synergy activations by means of specific therapies. Will be investigated whether there is a relationship between post-stroke cortical plasticity and changes in synergy activations due to a therapy.
Suture Closure Trial
Surgical WoundUpper Extremity InjuryClosure of surgical incisions in orthopedic procedures contributes to patient postoperative pain and risk of complication. As the focus on improving orthopedic surgery outcomes shifts to best practices in postoperative pain management, it is important to consider suture types and techniques. This study specifically would focus on comparing different suture types and techniques and their efficacy. This will be a randomized controlled trial comparing currently used, standard of care suture types and currently used, standard of care suture techniques to identify differences, if any exist, in postoperative pain scores and wound healing as assessed by exam and postoperative patient surveys. Patients will be identified by the Emory Upper Extremity/Hand Surgeons as they are identified as a candidate for surgery. Participants will then be informed of the study and spoken to about the specifics of the study. The research team will consent and recruit patients either in The Emory Clinic or in the preoperative area prior to surgery. All surgical operations will take place at the ambulatory surgical center in The Emory Clinic or at the Emory University Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital. Patients will not be compensated for participation in this study. No specimens/data/samples will be collected and stored for later use, and there are no optional substudies. This proposed study will address the lack of published literature regarding the suture technique in hand and wrist surgery in particular. Combined with examining various suture materials, the proposal has the potential to provide a valuable and actionable base of knowledge to the current body of literature.
Plasma Concentration of Somatostatin and Endocannabinoids After GA and RA in Upper Extremity Trauma...
Postoperative PainArm InjuryThe application of RA can decrease the central sensitization and chronic pain after trauma surgery. The plasma concentrations of somatostatin and fatty acid amides were not studied up to this time in this kind of settings, so investigators believe that this is the first work that shows how upper extremity nerve blockade changes the plasma concentration of somatostatin and fatty acid amides in upper limb surgery in trauma patients.
Effectiveness of Images in Reducing Preoperative Anxiety
Upper Limb InjuryIntroduction: Current evidence supports the existence of preoperative anxiety and its undesirable effects during surgery and in the postoperative period. Despite numerous studies that have evaluated the effectiveness of different non-pharmacological interventions in reducing preoperative anxiety, we have not found any that use an image catalog. Objective: To evaluate the effect of an intervention based on the visualization of an image catalog on the improvement of perceived anxiety in patients undergoing upper limb orthopedic surgery. Methodology: A prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel-group clinical trial with a 1:1 ratio will be conducted. The study will include 167 patients scheduled for upper limb surgery who are over 18 years old, without blindness or decreased visual acuity that cannot be corrected with appropriate lenses. The subjects will be invited to explain the study's objective and perform baseline assessments. On the day of the surgical intervention, both groups will receive standard care, but those in the intervention group will also visualize a catalog of 8 images, 25 minutes before entering the operating room. In addition, 30 and 10 minutes before the intervention begins, all patients included in the study will have vital signs taken, be administered Spielberger's anxiety scale, visual analog scale for anxiety, and cortisol levels in saliva will be determined as measures of preoperative anxiety. The final evaluation will measure whether this intervention results in decreased anxiety, postoperative complications resulting from anxiety, and length of hospital stay.
Impact of Keeping a Personal Recovery Diary on Upper Extremity Disability
Acute Injury of Upper ExtremityPrimary null hypothesis: • Keeping a personal diary has no effect on upper-extremity disability (assessed w/ PROMIS [Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System] upper extremity) 8 weeks after injury. Secondary null hypotheses: Keeping a personal diary has no effect on avoidance of painful activities (assessed w/ PROMIS pain interference) 8 weeks after injury. Keeping a personal diary has no effect on symptoms of depression (assessed w/ PROMIS depression) 8 weeks after injury. There are no factors associated with upper-extremity disability 8 weeks after injury.