Randomised controlled feasibility trial of standard wound management versus negative-pressure wound therapy in the treatment of adult patients having surgical incisions for hip fractures

INTRODUCTION: Deep wound infection is a catastrophic complication after hip fracture surgery. However, current understanding of infection rates in this population is limited. Many technologies such as incisional negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) show promise in reducing the rate of infection. This trial is a feasibility study looking to establish a value estimated with a greater precision of the rate of deep infection after hip fracture treatment in patients treated with NPWT versus standard dressing following hip fracture surgery. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A randomised controlled trial of 464 patients will be run across multiple centres. It is embedded in the World Hip Trauma Evaluation cohort study. Any patient over the age of 65 years having surgery for hip fracture is eligible unless they are being treated with percutaneous screw fixation. A web-based randomisation sequence will stratify patients by centre. Patients will be allocated to either NPWT or standard care on a 1:1 basis. The primary outcome measure is the Centre for Disease Control definition of deep infection at 30 days. Follow-up at 4 months will also assess deep infection and the core outcome dataset for hip fractures. This includes health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), mobility, mortality and late complications such as further surgery. The primary analysis will be intention to treat. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Oxford C Research Ethics Committee granted ethical approval on 28/04/2017, 17/SC/0207. The results of this study will be reported in a peer-reviewed publication and inform the design of a future full-scale trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN55305726.