Purpose

This is a multi-center, pragmatic, parallel arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 352 patients with high-risk open or closed tibial plateau fracture, high-risk open or closed tibial pilon fracture, or open tibial shaft fracture with incision >3cm. Eligible participants will be randomized to receive either incisional negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) or a non-suction standard-of-care wound dressing for their definitive wound management. The primary outcome will be a composite outcome to evaluate clinical status 3 months after randomization.

Conditions

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  1. All open or closed tibial plateau or pilon fractures treated operatively with internal fixation at high risk for complication. Any open Gustilo Type I, II or IIIA tibial shaft fracture treated definitively with internal or external fixation with or without ipsilateral leg compartment syndrome if at least one wound is primarily closed. 2. We define high-risk fractures as those that are either: - Closed fracture initially treated with an external fixator (with or without limited internal fixation) and treated definitive more than 3 days later after swelling has resolved; - Any open type I, II or IIIA fracture, regardless of timing of definitive treatment; - Any tibial plateau fracture associated with ipsilateral leg compartment syndrome fasciotomy wounds that has at least one wound primarily closed 3. Requiring incision for fixation or debridement of 3 cm or greater. 4. Patients 18 years of age or older

Exclusion Criteria

  1. The study injury is already infected at time of study enrollment. 2. Patient is unable to receive incisional NPWT for any reason. 3. Patients who have already had definitive fixation prior to enrollment in the study. 4. Severe problems with maintaining follow-up (e.g., patients who are homeless at the time of injury or those who are intellectually challenged without adequate family support or who are prisoners). 5. The study injury is a Gustilo Type IIIB or IIIC open fracture.

Study Design

Phase
Phase 3
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Randomization into study treatment arms (incisional NPWT or non-suction standard of care) will occur in variable permuted blocks, stratified by clinical center, in a 1:1 ratio. Patients will be randomized electronically by an online Data Management System maintained by the Coordinating Center at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
No Intervention
Standard of Care Wound Care
Patients randomized to the control group will receive standard wound care.
Experimental
Incisional Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT)
Patients randomized to the treatment group will receive wound care which includes the application of an incisional negative pressure wound vacuum.
  • Device: Incisional Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT)
    Participants in the treatment group will be standardized and will receive incisional NPWT using the any incisional VAC system that can apply 75-125mmHg continuous suction to the incision. The VAC sponge will be placed over the surgical wound at least 2cm in width and >3cm in length.

Recruiting Locations

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee 37232
Contact:
Karen Trochez
(615) 936-0347
karen.m.trochez@vumc.org

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium

Study Contact

Leah Gitajn, MD
603-650-5133
ida.leah.gitajn@hitchcock.org

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.