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University Orthopedics doctors are engaged in five nationally funded studies.
Translational research is the process by which scientific discoveries are brought forward in a clinical setting as new treatments to make life better for patients. Only those institutions that have nationally recognized experts are selected to test new products and drugs.
University Orthopedic physicians are currently engaged in five of these nationally funded trials in conjunction with Rhode Island or Miriam Hospital:
• Non-Surgical Duputren’s Contractures Treatment
• Healing Foot Fusions.
• Preventing Hip Fracture Complications
• Eliminating Neck Disc Strain
• More Effective ACL Repairs
These studies give University Orthopedics’ patients an early opportunity to take advantage of some remarkably brilliant new treatments.
Of course, the federal government and the hospitals regulate the trials. In addition, safety tests are performed before any of these promising new treatments are offered to the Rhode Island public. Patients are required to give fully-informed consent before being entered into one of these ground-breaking studies.
Non-Surgical Dupuytren’s Contractures Treatment
 Dr. Edward Akelman is participating in a Phase lll, FDA-sponsored study at Rhode Island hospital to study non-operative treatment of Dupuytren’s disease. Dupuytren’s disease causes contractures of the fingers so that a patient cannot fully straighten out their fingers. Currently the only accepted world-wide standard for treatment is surgery. Preliminary data from Drs. Lawrence Hurst and Dr. Marie Badalamante published in the July/August Journal of Hand Surgery 2007 has shown this technique to be promising. Patients who are currently enrolled in Dr. Alkelman’s portion of the study are receiving injectable collagense which is an enzyme which non-surgically ruptures the Dupuytren’s cords which causes the contracture.
Healing Foot Fusions
 In the first national study of its kind, covering 28 North American Sites and headed by foot and ankle specialist Dr. Christopher DiGiovanni, platelet-derived growth factor is being used to promote healing of foot fusions. Foot fusions involve joining several bones in the foot to prevent pain. For some patients this procedure is slow to heal. One way to stimulate the healing process is to take bone from further up the leg or hip. However, this lengthens the procedure and increases the chances for additional complications. Dr. DiGiovanni is finding that adding this protein factor to the surgical site often causes the bone to heal as well if not better than when additional bone graft is used, and may someday replace the need to take extra bone graft from another site.
Preventing Hip Fracture Complications
 Dr. Christopher Born, from University Orthopedics’ Trauma Service, is looking at ways to prevent some of the complications associated with hip fractures. One of the causes of such complications in elderly patients is anemia caused by poor nutrition. The purpose of the study is to determine whether it is better to help these elderly patients avoid anemia by giving them blood transfusions (which have their own associated risks) or carefully monitor patients for anemia but only giving transfusions when need presents itself. This study will add important new information about how to best keep hip fracture patients on the road to recovery.
Eliminating Neck Disc Strain
Dr. Philip Lucas and Dr. Mark Palumbo represent one of the ten centers in the United States introducing a new kind of artificial cervical disc which, when surgically implanted in the neck, protects adjacent disks from excessive strain.
More Effective ACL Repairs
University Orthopedics sports surgeons, Dr. Paul Fadale, Dr. Michael Hulstyn and Dr. Robert Shalvoy, (at the Rhode Island and Miriam Hospitals) are working with a Ph.D., Braden Fleming, one of the country's leading experts on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to find even better ways of making ACL repairs so that patients can return to their sports sooner and with fewer post repair complication.
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