Clinical trial NCT06343467: Do Generic Volar Locking Plates Provide Similar Outcomes at a Reduced Cost?
Official title: Generic Volar Locking Plate Use in Distal Radius Fractures: A Prospective Randomized Study to Evaluate Clinical Outcomes and Cost Reduction
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Distal Radius Fractures
Keywords: Volar Locking Plate
Generic Implants
Lead sponsor: HealthPartners Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-04-02
Enrollment: 101
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Surgeons alternated between using generic implants and conventional implants in their distal radius fracture patients over the course of six months.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Across orthopedics, the investigators will be using the generic volar locking plates for patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of the distal radius using a block schedule, meaning one month we the generic implants and one month we use conventional implants from the surgeon's brand of choice. At the end of each month the health system will switch which type of implants (generic vs. conventional) they will use at their facilities. From a quality perspective each patient will be monitored both short and long term for complication and reoperation. This will be done through chart review.

Detailed description: Patients will be consented to surgery per a standard surgical consent form. Six surgeons who regularly perform distal radius fracture (DRF) ORIF are included (five hand and one orthopaedic trauma fellowship-trained). Per the practice protocol, patients will either be treated with a generic plate or a brand name plate as described above. Ultimately, the decision to use a generic volar locking plate (VLP) is left up to surgeon discretion. All surgical and follow-up data will be collected. Implants used, age at time of surgery, weight, height, gender, race, ethnicity, comorbidities (diabetes, heart disease, etc.), complications including, but not limited to: readmission, reoperation, non-union, wound dehiscence, and lab tests will be collected. This will be evaluated all within 90 days following surgery. Implants will be cross referenced with the institution's data base to determine cost. All data will be collected on a secure server and be kept password protected. The primary outcome was 90-day postoperative complications (readmissions, reoperations, and mortality rates) by implant vendor type (generic vs. conventional). Secondary outcomes consisted of implant costs, estimated blood loss, and tourniquet time. An a priori power analysis was conducted to estimate the minimum sample size needed to adequately detect a difference in reoperation rates with a large effect size (Cohen's d=0.8). At a Type I error rate of 0.05, a power of 80%, and a 1:1 group allocation, the estimated sample size was 36 patients (18 generic VLPs vs. 18 conventional VLPs). Statistical significance was set to p≤0.05.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Isolated distal radius fracture
* Treated surgically with a volar locking plate

Exclusion Criteria:

* Volar locking plate not used
* Additional fixation was used
* Polytrauma (non-isolated injury)
* Open fracture
* \<18 years old

Primary outcomes:
measure: 90-day Reoperation Rate
timeFrame: Within 90 days postoperatively
measure: 90-day Readmission Rate
timeFrame: Within 90 days postoperatively
measure: 90-day Mortality Rate
timeFrame: Within 90 days postoperatively
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Implant Cost
timeFrame: Day of Surgery
measure: Tourniquet Time
timeFrame: From tourniquet inflation to deflation during the procedure.
measure: Estimated Blood Loss
timeFrame: Day of Surgery
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Saint Paul
country: United States
facility: Regions Hospital
state: Minnesota
Study officials:
affiliation: HealthPartners Institute
name: Brian Cunningham, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Walker JA, Althausen PL. Surgeon Attitudes Regarding the Use of Generic Implants: An OTA Survey Study. J Orthop Trauma. 2016 Dec;30 Suppl 5:S27-S31. doi: 10.1097/BOT.0000000000000722.
citation: Waldrop VH, Laverty DC, Bozic KJ. Value-based Healthcare: Increasing Value by Reducing Implant-related Health Care Costs. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2019 Feb;477(2):281-283. doi: 10.1097/01.blo.0000534683.24250.9c. No abstract available.
citation: Miner HR, Slover JD, Koenig KM. Price Transparency and Consumer Perceptions of Generic and Brand-name Implants in Orthopaedic Surgery. Arch Bone Jt Surg. 2022 Sep;10(9):791-797. doi: 10.22038/ABJS.2022.51855.2558.
citation: Mcphillamy A, Gurnea TP, Moody AE, Kurnik CG, Lu M. The Clinical and Economic Impact of Generic Locking Plate Utilization at a Level II Trauma Center. J Orthop Trauma. 2016 Dec;30 Suppl 5:S32-S36. doi: 10.1097/BOT.0000000000000721.
citation: Khoo KM, Kim GW, Lindvall EM, Martirosian AK. Outcomes and Cost Comparison Between Generic and Conventional Cephalomedullary Nails in the Treatment of Peritrochanteric Femur Fractures. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2022 Feb 1;30(3):119-124. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-21-00024.
citation: Doxey SA, Huyke-Hernandez FA, Robb JL, Bohn DC, Cunningham BP. A Case Series of Surgically Treated Distal Radius Fractures: Implant Costs and Their Effect on Patient Outcomes. J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev. 2023 Jul 7;7(7):e23.00026. doi: 10.5435/JAAOSGlobal-D-23-00026. eCollection 2023 Jul 1.
citation: Doxey SA, Huyke-Hernandez FA, Robb JL, Bohn DC, Cunningham BP. Implant cost variation in surgically treated distal radius fractures. J Orthop. 2023 Apr 7;39:45-49. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2023.04.003. eCollection 2023 May.