DRAFFT2 trial closed to recruitment – target surpassed

In orthopaedics news: recruitment for the DRAFFT2 (Distal Radius Acute Fracture Fixation Trial) has closed early after surpassing its target.

The trial, a study into alternate methods of treatment for patients suffering from a broken wrist, is looking to see which of two competing methods provides the best recovery and convenience to the patient.

Begun in 2016 under the guidance of the University of Oxford, due to the efforts of 36 NHS Trusts across the , including Sandwell and West Birmingham, sign-ups for DRAFFT2 have ended a month earlier than scheduled after the target total was not only achieved but passed. Thanks to SWBH staff, the Trust finished a very respectable 13th in the recruitment table.

Mr. Kanthan Theivendran, Consultant Orthopaedic and Upper Limb Surgeon at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and the Principle Investigator for DRAFFT2 at the Trust said: “This is an important trial to identify the best way to fix broken wrists. This is the first randomised trauma trial within our T&O department. It was a real team effort to support the trial recruitment with great support from junior and middle grade doctors and consultants and trainees alike and also our ever supportive research nurses. We are proud to finish so high up in the league tables on our first trauma trials outing”.

You can find out more about the clinical trial here:  https://drafft2.octru.ox.ac.uk/