Improving Wrist Injury Pathways (I-WIP)
Wrist injuries are a big and common problem for patients and the NHS, with around 70,000 patients a year in the UK going to hospitals with wrist pain after an injury and normal x-rays.
Often, when doctors check, the wrist is very painful, but the x-rays look normal. Current guidelines now recommend that this large group of people should have MRI scans (magnetic resonance imaging = very detailed scanning) early on.
When doctors do use MRI scans early on, patients feel less worried, and happier with their treatment. It also saves the NHS money. But our recent study tells us that doctors do not often do this – only 13% of UK centres can currently provide early MRI scans for these patients. We need to understand this complex problem better, before trying to fix it.
Our project consists of a first part of data gathering to better understand the situation and this is well underway. The second part will then turn this information into action by co-designing a complex intervention to address this implementation gap.
Aims and objectives
- Develop a better understanding of current wrist injury pathways in the UK.
- Co-design a complex intervention to address the implementation gap.
Our team
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Ben Dean
Senior Research Fellow
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Matthew Costa
Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery
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David Metcalfe
Kadoorie Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
