Aircast Ankle Brace versus Below Knee POP: Patient Satisfaction

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    A Comparison of two interventions in the treatment of severe Ankle Sprains and Lateral Malleolar Avulsion Fractures: a Patient perspective.

  • IRAS ID

    176790

  • Contact name

    Margaret Volante

  • Contact email

    m.volante@mdx.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Middlesex University London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 8 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    The purpose of the study is to measure patient satisfaction when treated with a Below Knee Plaster of Paris or an Aircast Ankle Brace for the first 7 days following attendance at the emergency department with a severe ankle sprain or fracture of the bone on the outside of your ankle. This will help us provide a patient-centred approach for how patients will manage their condition at home following discharge from the Emergency Department (ED).

    Participants will consist of the general public: patients attending the ED with the given conditions who have presented within the first 72 hours following the injury and consented to participation.
    They will be both male and female, between 18-60 years and english speaking. They will be able excluded if they are in the third trimester of pregnancy, are not normally independent with activities of daily living or have a chronic medical condition affecting their bones.

    If the patient decides to take part they will be given a patient information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form. In ED, the participant will be randomly allocated to a treatment with crutches; either a below knee Plaster of Paris or an Aircast Ankle Brace and trained how to use it. The study, a randomised controlled trial, will enable patient satisfaction to be compared with the treatment. Studies have shown that stable ankle fractures can be clinically treated as effectively with a Plaster of Paris or an Aircast Ankle Brace. The study aims to gain information about patient satisfaction during the first 7 days of the intervention. A questionnaire will be sent to the patient’s home address with a stamped addressed envelope for them to fill out 7 days after their ED attendance and return it to the hospital in the envelope supplied.

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  • REC name

    North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    16/NW/0179

  • Date of REC Opinion

    30 Mar 2016

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion