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.

Ongoing studies

My Knee Plan  This project will involve researchers, healthcare professionals and patients working together to co-produce a care plan for patients undergoing total knee replacement.

CeramTec: An externally funded study of clinical and cost effectiveness outcomes of hip replacement associated with implant bearing combinations.

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: Feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial of a pre-operative prehabilitation (exercise and nutrition) intervention for frail patients undergoing hip or knee replacement. Further details can be found here.

KNIPS: Evidence synthesis and economic decision model to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of knee implants for NHS patients.

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.

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.

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:

Explaining results to a patient
A doctor explaining results to a patient
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