Does Early Elbow Motion Improve Patient Outcomes After Surgically Treated Elbow Fractures?

July 31, 2023 updated by: David Fuller, The Cooper Health System

Early Range of Motion Versus Plaster Immobilization After Open Reduction Internal Fixation of Elbow Fractures: A Prospective, Randomized Trial

The purpose of this study is to compare the safety and efficacy, defined as improved range of motion and functional outcome scores, of early elbow motion in the early (immediately post-op) and late postoperative periods (2 week post-op).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

A prospective randomized clinical trial will be performed. Patients over the age of 18 undergoing operative fixation of an elbow fracture by a Cooper orthopaedic surgeon will be considered for study inclusion. Patients who are under the age of 18, pregnant, admitted to the ICU, have a history of trauma/injury to the joint, or extensive soft tissue injury as determined by the treating orthopaedic surgeon will be excluded from study participation. All surgeons listed as co-investigators on this study have agreed to participate. Surgeons who may want to handle postop care differently despite randomization were not listed as co-investigators on this study. All patients will undergo operative fracture fixation of the elbow, which is standard of care. The decision for operative treatment will be made prior to study participation based on fracture classification and the discretion of the orthopaedic trauma team. There are discrete indications for operative treatment of elbow fractures in the orthopaedic literature. These guidelines are based upon the AO/OTA fracture classifications. Operative indications for elbow fractures include: type 13 humerus fractures including all subtypes, type 2r1 radius fractures including all subtypes, and type 2u1 ulna fractures including all subtypes. After this decision is made, the patient will be considered for study inclusion. There will be two treatment groups. The control group will be immobilized in a splint for 2 weeks and will be allowed to resume unrestricted motion at 2 weeks postop. The experimental group will be allowed to use unrestricted motion immediately after surgery. Both groups will be followed up postoperatively to monitor for pain, range of motion, and elbow function as well as the presence of complications. Once there is adequate pain control and if there are no complications, the patient will be discharged. All patients will be instructed to follow up with their surgeon within 2 weeks. If patients do not follow-up with the surgeon in 2 weeks time, the research team will call the patient to monitor clinical progress. At the time of follow-up, all patients will be recommended to go to physical therapy.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
80

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New Jersey
      • Camden, New Jersey, United States, 08103
        • Cooper University Health Care

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects must have undergone operative treatment for an elbow fracture
  • Operative indications for elbow fractures include: Type 13 humerus fractures including all subtypes, Type 2r1 radius fractures including all subtypes, Type 2u1 ulna fractures including all subtypes.
  • Individuals over the age of 18 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any patient who had not undergone operative treatment of an elbow fracture will be excluded.
  • Patients who were not treated surgically by an orthopaedic surgeon or were treated outside of the study frame will be excluded.
  • Individuals under the age of 18.
  • Pregnant women.
  • Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).
  • Patients with a history of trauma or injury to the affected elbow will be excluded.
  • Patients with extensive soft tissue injury of the elbow, which is defined as any injury that requires graft coverage, will be excluded.
  • Non-English speaking patients will be excluded.
  • Decisional-impaired patients will be excluded (as no substitute consent is requested).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Immobilized
Patients in the control group will be immobilized for 2 weeks and resume unrestricted motion once the splint is taken off.
Other: Splint Immobilization
Patients will be randomized to receive a splint following their surgical procedure.
Experimental: Early Range of Motion
Patients in the experimental group will start early motion immediately after surgery.
Other: Early Motion
Patients will be randomized to receive no splint following their surgical procedure.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
ASES-E Scores
Time Frame: Preoperative and postoperatively as 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year
A standardized elbow evaluation was developed by the Research Committee of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons 1 (ASES). This score allows the evaluation of elbow function independently from the underlying diagnosis.
Preoperative and postoperatively as 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year
HSS Elbow Score
Time Frame: Preoperative and postoperatively as 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year
The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scoring system 31 consists of eight domains described as pain, function, sagittal range, muscle strength, flexion contracture, extension contracture, pronation, and supination.
Preoperative and postoperatively as 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year
Range of Motion
Time Frame: Preoperative and postoperatively as 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year
Preoperative and postoperatively as 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The Cooper Health System

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
December 27, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 20, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 31, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 31, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 7, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 7, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 31, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 19-196

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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