Clinical Validation of the C-Arm Rotational View (CARV) to Avoid Rotational Malalignment After Intramedullary Nailing of Tibial Shaft Fractures.

July 13, 2022 updated by: University Medical Center Groningen

Tibia shaft fractures are common long bone fractures in the field of Orthopaedic Trauma. In the USA, a total of 492.000 tibial fractures were reported per year by the National Center of Health Statistics (NCHS). Intramedullary nailing (IMN) is the treatment of choice for shaft fractures. However, rotational malalignment (RM) remains an iatrogenic pitfall with a prevalence up to 30%.

From a clinical point of view, there is limited knowledge on how to avoid RM during IMN. Clinical estimation of tibial alignment is difficult, resulting frequently in RM following IMN. Low-dose CT-assessment is considered the gold standard to objectify RM, but is performed after surgery when the opportunity for direct revision has passed. Both difficulties in intraoperative clinical judgement of tibial alignment as well as postoperative detection of RM when the possibility for direct revision has passed, do support the need for an easy-to-use intraoperative fluoroscopy protocol to minimize the risk for RM during IMN of tibial shaft fractures.

Recently, a standardized intraoperative fluoroscopy protocol named the 'C-Arm Rotational View (CARV)' was determined in order to improve the accuracy of alignment control during IMN of tibial shaft fractures. CARV includes predefined fluoroscopy landmarks of the uninjured side to correct for rotational malalignment of the injured side in which the rotation of the C-Arm Image Intensifier is used. Promising preliminary results were found to reduce the risk on RM following IMN of tibia fractures. However, a prospective trial is needed to determine the performance of CARV in clinical practice. Therefore, a prospective multi-center randomized controlled trial is designed to assess the clinical feasibility and potential benefits of the CARV-protocol. The following primary research question was defined: can the risk for RM following IMN of tibial shaft fractures be minimized by use of the CARV-protocol?

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

100

Phase

  • 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 Contact

Study Locations

  • Australia
      • Adelaide, Australia
        • Flinders Medical Centre, Flinders University
        • Contact:
  • Netherlands
      • Groningen, Netherlands
        • University Medical Centers Groningen
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

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

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All consecutive patients (≥18 years) with an open or closed tibia shaft fracture, who are eligible for IMN, will be asked to enroll in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • The following exclusion criteria will be used: age <18 years, fractures not suitable for IMN and pathological fractures.

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Interventional group
Patients assigned to the interventional group will undergo an identical surgical procedure as patients assigned to the control group. The only difference with the control group is that tibial alignment will be obtained according to the standardized CARV-protocol.
Diagnostic test: C-Arm Rotational View (CARV)
CARV includes predefined fluoroscopy landmarks of the uninjured side to correct for rotational malalignment of the injured side in which the rotation of the C-Arm Image Intensifier is used
No Intervention: Control group
Patients assigned to the control group will undergo an identical surgical procedure as patients assigned to the interventional group. The only difference with the intervention group is that tibial alignment will be obtained according to present unstandardized clinical standards

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rotational (mal)alignment
Time Frame: Up to 12 months after initial surgery
Determine the incidence of RM using postoperative CT-assessment. In literature, RM is defined as a rotation ≥10 degrees relative to the contralateral side. However, considering the physiological left-right difference of 4 degrees between left and right-sided tibiae, with right-sided tibiae on average 4 degrees more externally rotated, RM is defined as malrotation of < -6 degrees or >14 degrees in right-sided tibiae and < -14 degrees or >6 degrees in left-sided tibiae. A negative angle represents internal rotation and positive angle external rotation.
Up to 12 months after initial surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University Medical Center Groningen

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Anticipated)

September 1, 2022

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

September 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 5, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 13, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 13, 2022

Last Verified

July 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 81191

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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