Orthopaedic Surgery Group
We are one of the largest orthopaedic health services research groups in the UK. Headed by Professors Mike Whitehouse, Vikki Wylde and Andy Judge, our research aims to improve care for patients living with musculoskeletal conditions. Our orthopaedic research team includes experts in orthopaedic surgery, epidemiology, clinical trials, statistics, health economics, psychology, evidence synthesis, qualitative methods, public and patient involvement, intervention development and outcome measurement. Our research benefits from being conducted in collaboration with patient representatives and members of local communities.
Example studies
ASLEEP: Co-design of a toolkit to improve patients’ sleep on hospital wards.
CeramTec: An industry funded study of clinical and cost effectiveness outcomes of hip replacement associated with implant bearing combinations.
Core outcome set for periprosthetic femoral fractures: A systematic review and Delphi study to develop a core outcome set for periprosthetic femoral fractures.
Dislocation after hip replacement: Mixed methods research to improve care for patients with dislocation after hip replacement.
HIPPY: A programme of work that aims to find out which hip implants are best for patients under 70 years of age.
iDECIDE: Qualitative study to provide evidence and a model to underpin a future decision aid to improve informed decision-making about knee replacement.
INFORM EP: Supporting the implementation of a treatment pathway for patients with periprosthetic infection into clinical practice. Further details can be found here.
Joint PREP: Randomised controlled trial evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of pre-operative prehabilitation (exercise and protein) for frail patients undergoing hip or knee replacement.
My Knee Plan: Co-production of a care plan for patients undergoing total knee replacement.
KNIPS: Evidence synthesis and economic decision model to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of knee implants for NHS patients.
MAPLE: Working in partnership with communities, patients and charities, we have co-design resources to support researchers to create accessible patient information leaflets for clinical trials
National Hip Fracture Database: We hold the contract for statistical analysis of the National Hip Fracture Database national audit programme managed by the Royal College of Physicians.
National Joint Registry: We undertake statistical analysis of the National Joint Registry, the largest arthroplasty register in the world. This includes survivorship analysis for the Annual Report and the development of the outlier methodology to monitor the performance of orthopaedic implants, units and surgeons as well as a programme of research on NJR data.
PART: Randomised controlled trial evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of elective primary total knee replacement with patellar resurfacing compared to selective patellar resurfacing.
Psychoeducational support for patients with prosthetic joint infection and their families: Co-design of a plan and logic model for a psycho-educational intervention to reduce mental distress in patients with prosthetic joint infection
RADICAL: Randomised controlled trial evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of radiofrequency denervation for people with chronic low back pain.
STAR: Supporting the implementation of the STAR care pathway for patients with chronic pain after knee replacement into clinical practice.
SOS OP Max: Mixed-methods study to support orthopaedic surgeons to avoid or reserve negative outlier status
Supporting exercise before joint replacement: Developing an intervention to improve physical activity levels in patients waiting for joint replacement surgery using Pain Science Education and accessible exercise
Surgical and Orthopaedic Innovation
We are part of the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and co-lead the Surgical and Orthopaedic Innovation Theme in collaboration with the Centre for Surgical Research. The research in our Theme is focussed on developing novel surgical and orthopaedic devices and procedures, improving patient care and outcomes through co-intervention development, and creating patient-centred, transparent systems for surgical and orthopaedic innovation.
Past Studies
Examples of past studies can be found here:
Groups that we are part of include: