Do Generic Volar Locking Plates Provide Similar Outcomes at a Reduced Cost?

Distal Radius Fractures Clinical Trial

Official title:

Generic Volar Locking Plate Use in Distal Radius Fractures: A Prospective Randomized Study to Evaluate Clinical Outcomes and Cost Reduction

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06343467
• Other study ID #: A17-376
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 1, 2022
• Est. completion date: April 30, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: March 2024
• Source: HealthPartners Institute
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 101
• Est. completion date: April 30, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: April 30, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Distal Radius Fractures
• Radius Fractures
• Wrist Fractures

Intervention

Device:
• Generic Volar Locking Plate
Application of a generic volar locking plate is done in the generic implant arm compared to the other commonly used implants by surgeons in the conventional implant arm.
• Conventional Volar Locking Plate
Application of a conventional, brand name volar locking plate is done in the conventional implant arm compared to the generic implant arm.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Regions Hospital	Saint Paul	Minnesota

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
HealthPartners Institute

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (7)

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. — View 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. — View 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. — View 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. — View 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. — View 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. — View 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. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	90-day reoperation rate	Reoperation for any reason postoperatively within 90 days after the date of surgery.	Within 90 days postoperatively
Primary	90-day readmission rate	Readmission to the hospital for any reason postoperatively within 90 days after the date of surgery.	Within 90 days postoperatively
Primary	90-day mortality rate	Patient death at any point within 90 days after the date of surgery.	Within 90 days postoperatively
Secondary	Implant Cost	The total cost of implants used in the procedure, including screws, pegs, volar locking plates, and disposable implants.	Day of Surgery
Secondary	Tourniquet Time	The total time in minutes from tourniquet inflation to deflation for a surgical case.	From tourniquet inflation to deflation during the procedure.
Secondary	Estimated Blood Loss	Estimated blood loss for the surgical case as reported by the surgeon in milliliters.	Day of Surgery