An open fracture is a break of a bone where part of the bone comes out through the skin. Approximately 7,500 people in the UK will suffer an open fracture every year; open fractures are a life-changing event and cause a significant loss in quality-of-life. The treatment of these injuries is complex and costly, requiring different surgeons to repair the bones, skin and in severe cases the blood vessels and nerves. Current clinical practice guidelines have been issued by specialists but these are based only on opinion rather than evidence. A more efficient way is needed to deliver high quality work in this area to help develop better care for patients sustaining this injury.
During the fellowship, Xavier will explore how fracture treatment and outcomes have changed over time and develop future treatment ideas. Working with patients to establish which outcomes are most important to them, he will then test the feasibility of a comprehensive system of collecting these outcomes from all patients with open fractures.
Commenting on his award, Xavier stated “With this fellowship, I aim to establish a research framework to facilitate multiple cost and time efficient research studies about the treatments for patients with open fractures”
The fellowship begins on 1 February 2018 and runs for 60 months.
