Collection of waste tissue at joint replacement and fracture surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Collection of waste tissue at joint replacement and fracture fixation surgery for use in musculoskeletal research
IRAS ID
247368
Contact name
Andrew McCaskie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative condition of the joints that causes them to become painful and stiff. It affects over eight million people in the UK. Although the symptoms people experience can be managed with medication, walking aids and physiotherapy, the mainstay of treatment for the end stage disease itself is joint replacement surgery. This is major surgery that is usually reserved for patients with severe disease. Our research unit is focused on understanding the disease process of OA and the biological processes relevant to joint repair and regeneration, including the development of new treatments for osteoarthritis that prevent or slow its progression.
This research can be aided by experiemnts that utilise surplus tissue removed during joint replacement and fracture fixation surgery which would otherwise be discarded. Studying the tissue removed as part of the routine procedure (such as cartilage, bone, ligament, synovium and meniscus) will aid our understanding of the processes that cause OA, and could help identify targets for future treatments. Similarly, many of the tissues removed during a knee replacement procedure (fat pad, fracture haematoma bone marrow, blood) are a source of stem cells which are key to the body’s ability to heal and regenerate. Studying stem cells extracted from these tissues can further our understanding of tissue regeneration, and help us develop treatments that regenerate damaged joint tissue and slow or halt the progression of OA.
Furthermore, surplus tissue can also be used to aid the development of new medical imaging techniques designed to detect and monitor osteoarthritis with much greater accuracy than current techniques.Because the routine procedure is not affected by the collection of tissues that are normally discarded, there is no additional risk to the patient as a result of taking part in the study.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0545
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion