ANZCTR search results

It is not known at what time definitive femoral shaft intramedullary nailing (IMN) should be performed to result in fewer complications for the patient. The trial will investigate the optimal timing of femoral shaft IMN in a single-centre phase II randomised trial. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference in organ dysfunction outcomes between multitrauma patients having a femoral shaft fracture nailed immediately (within 24 hours) or nailed 3-6 days later secondary to external fixation.

Gout is an inflammatory condition caused by the deposition of urate crystals in tissues/joints. Allopurinol is a common and effective treatment to prevent gout. Gout predominantly affects the older population who are at risk for cardiovascular disease such as hypertension and heart attack. Low-dose aspirin and hydrochlorothiazide are used for the prevention of such cardiovascular events. Therefore, co-administration of allopurinol and aspirin and/or hydrochlorothiazide is common in older individuals. However, there has been no investigation of this combination of drugs with respect to control of urate concentrations in the body. This study will examine the interaction between allopurinol and aspirin and hydrochlorothiazide.

Empyema is the accumulation of infective fluid around the lung and occurs in about 1 percent of pneumonias in children. The bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of empyema. There has been a national vaccination program in Australia for the past 5 years which covers 7 types of Streptococcus. There is evidence in other countries that a type called Serotype 1 is emerging and this is not covered by the vaccine in this country. There is also evidence that following the introduction of the vaccine in other countries there has been a rise in the number of empyemas in children. The aim of this project is to accurately assess the types of Streptococcus causing empyemas in children in Australia using molecular techniques which can increase our identification of the bacteria causing empyema greater than our current standard techniques. The significance of the project is that it has the potential to affect the national vaccination program. If the project highlights that there is a large proportion of types of Streptococcus causing disease in children not covered by the current vaccine, then it may influence the Department of Health and Ageing in changing to another vaccine with a broader coverage. In addition, it is not known how best to manage children with empyemas and we will get data from different sites on how they are treating these children. We aim to develop a position paper for the Australian Paediatric Respiratory Group on managing children with this disease in Australia.

A randomized comparison of two types of troponin testing for ED patients.Currently ED patients with possible coronary syndromes wait significant times to be "cleared " or declared low enough risk for stress testing or discharge. One component of this wait is the time for troponin results to become available which may be reduced by using bedside or point of care(POC) tests.This could result in acute ED bed space being more efficiently utilized.Many other factors however may affect the speed of patient flow and a controlled trial will help to quantify this.

Up to today, there is no gold standard available for the assessment of pain in young children after operations. Aim of this trial is to investigate the correlation between pain obtained by behavioural or nurse rated assessment with skin conductance readings obtained at the same time. We hope that by that means we may be able to measure pain objectively and be able to conclude about wether or not a child requires acute pain relief. We will include 180 patients in 3 age groups (1-3, 4-7 and 8-16 yrs) and observe their pain (nurse assessed, behavioural, self assessed) in the recovery room. At the same time we will obtain skin conductance readings via 3 sticky dots on the hand (a method which itself is absolutely pain-free). From these readings we will try to find correlations or certain patterns that might allow conclusion about the level of pain by simple skin conductance assessment.

This trial is a before and after study design on one group of patients to assess the effects of Clinical Pilates intervention. Patients presenting to the Physiotherapy Department either through self-referral or referral from a MO or Specialist will be assessed for suitability for inclusion in the trial and will be given the appropriate information and informed consent will then be sought. The primary aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Clinical Pilates on pain and function in patients with Chronic Low Back Pain. The hypothesis is that there will be clinically and statistically significant positive outcomes based on current clinical practice in the physiotherapy department at HMAS Kuttabul.

Vapocollant spray is used overseas to decrease the pain of intravenous cannulation. However, no randomised controlled trial has been reported to provide evidence for this.

This study investigates whether a new form of treatment (NET) has a beneficial effect on tender or painful trigger points. Trigger points are locations on a muscle surface which are abnormally tender and are a source of self-perpetuating and continuing pain. This study looks at trigger points in the neck region. Participants will be assessed for the presence of trigger points. They will be given one course of NET treatment. They will return after 3 days to have their trigger points assessed for any change in their tenderness and the degree of neck pain. The treatment group results will be compared to a control group who receive a sham treatment which has no therapeutic value.

The aim of the study is to test the scientific theory that persons can be reinfected with H.pylori on multiple occasions. If so, then a genetically modified H.pylori strain may be the ideal delivery system for live oral vaccines.