Triage-Based Application of OFAR on the Number of Radiographs Ordered
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01779804. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
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Official title
The Effect of Triage-Based Application of the Ottawa Ankle and Foot Rules (OAR/OFR) on the Number of Radiographs Ordered: A Pilot Study
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Foot and ankle injuries account for nearly two million visits to Emergency Departments (EDs) in the United States and Canada each year. Of these injured patients, only 15% are diagnosed with actual fractures of the ankle. Due to such a small percentage, the "Ottawa Ankle and Foot Rules" (OFAR) were developed, which are a set of clinical decision-making guidelines that have been shown to be effective in diagnosing ankle and foot fractures. These rules are internationally accepted by the medical community, but are inconsistently applied. At Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), the ED triage nurses are routinely trained in how to use the Ottawa Ankle and Foot Rules, but the rules are not always applied which may result in unnecessary X-rays. These guidelines are current network "standard of care" (usual, established care) that allow nurses to decide treatment for foot and ankle injury patients; in other words, whether to send these patients for an X-ray or not. The research staff is conducting this study in order to find out if using these nurse-directed guidelines--on a regular and consistent basis--can decrease the number of X-rays ordered, decrease patient waiting times/length of stay (LOS) and increase patient satisfaction with their care in the ED. STUDY PURPOSE: The two main goals of this study are to find out if use of the Ottawa Ankle and Foot Rules by triage nurses can decrease the amount of X-rays ordered in the ED, as well as LOS. Secondary study goals are to: 1) see how many X-rays are ordered by physicians and physicians' assistants after patients are evaluated by the Ottawa Ankle and Foot Rules as not having had a fracture; and 2) evaluate patient and provider satisfaction with the care provided both when the Ottawa Foot and Ankle Rules are used and when they are not.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT01779804
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Observational
- Phase
- Not listed
- Enrollment
- 60 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 16 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 31, 2012
- Primary completion
- Aug 31, 2013
- Completion
- May 31, 2014
- Last update posted
- Sep 7, 2016
2013 – 2014
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network | Allentown | Pennsylvania | 18103 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01779804, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Sep 7, 2016 · Synced Sep 9, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT01779804 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.