Reflections One Year into the 22 Center NIH-funded WRIST Study. A Primer on Conducting a Multicenter Clinical Trial

摘要

The Wrist and Radius Surgery Trial (WRIST) study group is a collaboration of 22 hand surgery centers in the US, Canada, and Singapore to showcase the interest and capability of hand surgeons to conduct a multicenter clinical trial. The WRIST study group was formed in response to the seminal systematic review by Margaliot et al. and the Cochrane report that indicated marked deficiency in the quality of evidence in the distal radius fracture literature. Since the initial description of this fracture by Colles in 1814, over 2,000 studies have been published on this subject, yet high level studies based on the principles of evidence-based medicine are lacking. As we continue to embrace evidence-based medicine to raise the quality of research, the lessons learned during the organization and conduct of WRIST can serve as a template for others contemplating similar efforts. This paper will trace the course of WRIST by sharing the triumphs, and more importantly the struggles, faced in the first year of this study.