ANZCTR search results

A recent audit of quality of recovery following hip replacement at Hollywood Hospital indicated that a proportion of patients experience significant pain in the 1st 24h following surgery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy a new nerve block termed the erector spinae block in reducing pain in the first 24h following hip replacement . A pilot audit of this nerve block technique in 33 patients at Hollywood found it to be safe and effective in reducing pain without any compromise to patient mobility.

Most patients are discharged following a presentation to an emergency department. There is very little research regarding this heterogeneous populations’ needs post discharge. Cabrini’s nurse telephone follow-up program offers an opportunity to contact these patients, in order to better understand their concerns and provide background for future policy development. The goal of the study is to create a better understanding of the needs of patients post-discharge from Cabrini emergency department. It is likely that the needs determined from the Cabrini population are similar to the needs of discharged patients from other EDs. It also aims to provide quantitative data on telephone follow-up program and describe the mode of successful patient contact. This study will be a prospective, observational study, collecting data from Cabrini’s nurse telephone follow-up program over the period of 6 months. Patients are included if they are eligible for the existing program and were discharged from the emergency department within the allocated timeframe. Demographic data will be gathered from hospital’s new whiteboard platform software (Imatis) that will source its information from Patient Administrator System (PAS) and other hospital databases. The data will be analysed and a descriptive paper submitted to various biomedical journals. This study aims to describe patients needs post-discharge from ED which may influence future policies and research about discharge safety and discharge processes. Furthermore, it may also provide some input into follow-up policies for medical administration.

To determine the acceptability and feasibility of providing the Omo Neurexa Shoulder Orthosis as an early intervention management strategy for protection of the shoulder joint post stroke compared to current care. The aim is to inform a future Randomised Control Trial to compare these two products and patient outcomes.

The primary aim of this trial is to compare the effectiveness of face-to-face physiotherapy with a supported home exercise program delivered through an App. The trial will determine whether a 6-week supported home exercise programme provides outcomes as good or better than (i.e., not inferior to) an equivalent period of face-to-face physiotherapy for the treatment of a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions. This model of care could provide an accessible and cost-effective way of managing musculoskeletal conditions that is particularly relevant in Australia where the population is geographically disbursed and access to physiotherapy healthcare limited.

For primary school aged children with neurologically based conditions requiring high level of support and care, locomotor training (walk training) appears to be a feasible intervention to improving functional mobility. For younger children, engagement is critical so interventions need to be functionally meaningful and immersed within an activity based framework that encourages play and participation. This is particularly important as children prepare to go to kindy or preprimary school. Given the acceptability of intensive locomotor training for school aged children with cerebral palsy and the importance of early intervention for children with neurologically based conditions and injuries, this research project aims to investigate if locomotor training immersed in an activity based framework is equally as feasible in children with neurologically based conditions and injuries aged between 2 and 5 years.

This is a pilot dietary intervention study involving an 8-week dietary intervention prescribed in addition to standard therapy for patients with mild-moderately active ulcerative colitis. People who meet the inclusion criteria and who provide informed consent will be provided with a Dietitian administered meal plan for the study period. Tolerance of and adherence to the prescribed diet will be assessed, along with the nutritional adequacy of the diet. The impact of the diet on luminal intestinal inflammation will be assessed, as well as its effect on the gut microbiome.

The predictable management of recession in the lower anterior teeth is very important to avoid tooth loss. The conventional gum graft alone and "cow bone" alone may not be stable enough to treat the gum recession and peri-implantitis. This study will look if the addition of emdogain will improve the result of conventional gum graft and bone graft on teeth and implants.

In recent years, presentations to alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services by clients seeking treatment for problems with methamphetamine have increased dramatically in Australia. Withdrawal management (i.e. inpatient “detoxification”) is one of the most common treatments for people with severe methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). However, less than 20% of people who undergo withdrawal management remain abstinent from methamphetamine 3 months later. This highlights the need for brief, adjunctive treatments that can be delivered during inpatient withdrawal to help prevent relapse. “Approach bias modification” (ABM), a brief computerised cognitive training program designed to reduce impulsive tendencies to approach drug-related stimuli, has been shown to be effective for alcohol use disorders, but has not yet been trialed for methamphetamine. ABM involves repeated trials where patients respond to drug-related and neutral/healthy stimuli (e.g. pictures of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, in the case of alcohol ABM) by “avoiding” drug-related stimuli and “approaching” other stimuli. Before executing costly randomised controlled trials applying ABM for MUD, it is important to establish whether it is acceptable (e.g., whether exposure to images of methamphetamine during ABM is well-tolerated or whether they are excessively triggering/distressing) and whether it is feasible in relevant treatment-settings, including inpatient withdrawal. The aim of the present study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of ABM during inpatient withdrawal from methamphetamine. We predicted high rates of uptake and completion of training (demonstrating feasibility); and low rates of withdrawal, minimal triggering of cravings, and high ratings of the tasks’ acceptability from participants (demonstrating acceptability). Although this was a small, uncontrolled, open-label pilot study, we also examined rates of abstinence from methamphetamine at 2-week and 3-month follow-ups, expecting that it would compare favourably with those reported in multi-site treatment outcome studies of MUD patients undergoing inpatient withdrawal.

The aim of this research is to develop a mobile based multidisciplinary virtual clinic based on the existing platform (MoTER) and to investigate the impact of such a clinic on health outcomes and clinical management of patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). The primary hypothesis is that participants in the MoTER-ACS arm will have satisfying uptake and adherence to the intervention. Patients in the MoTER-ACS arm will have access to the mobile based intervention program which consists of educational materials, self-management interventions and healthcare providers' feedback for the period of three months.

Computer vision syndrome is defined as a group of eye and vision related problems that result from prolonged computer, tablet, e-reader or cell phone use. Its prevalence ranges from 75% to 90% among computer users. The most common ocular symptoms associated with computer vision syndrome are visual fatigue, followed by blurred vision, and dry eyes; these symptoms occur immediately, or after several hours of computer use. Recently, spectacle lenses have been introduced into the clinical practice with an aim to alleviate symptoms of computer vision syndrome. However, there are currently no high quality clinical trials that have investigated the efficacy of these lenses for the treatment of computer vision syndrome. Hence, this project comprises of series of experiments to scientifically investigate whether these spectacle interventions affect signs and symptoms of computer vision syndrome.