Research Portfolio

The Value of Avoiding the Pain of IV Catheter Failure.

Peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVC) are the most common invasive device utilised in health care, yet have very high failure rates because of infection, phlebitis, occlusion or dislodgement. Previous EMF-funded research (IVL-GONE: Intravenous Lines – Glue or Not Experiment, Bugden et al., 2015) has shown that the addition of two drops of medical grade superglue in addition to standard dressings at the insertion site of PIVCs can reduce the failure rate from 27% to 17% over 48 hours. Reduction in failure rates is expected to have beneficial effects on patient comfort and outcomes, along with hospital flow and costs. Uptake of…

Principal Investigator: Dr Mark Scott
Amount Awarded: $30,550
Institution: Caboolture Hospital

Outcomes in Transfers of Head and Neck Trauma Patients for Neuroimaging to Toowoomba Base Hospital Emergency Department.

Patients from Dalby and Kingaroy Hospitals are transferred to Toowoomba Hospital, for CT Scanning and advanced Radiology, when CT and Advanced Radiology services are not available locally. Dalby and Kingaroy Hospitals only have these services during business hours, Monday to Friday, and advanced Radiology when the trained Radiologist is working. This means on weekends and after-hours, patients need to be transferred to Toowoomba for these services. It is hypothesised that a percentage of transfers from rural hospitals for head and neck imaging following minor trauma do not meet ACEM guidelines. Our aim is to investigate the reasons for transfer for…

Principal Investigator: Dr Jacob Crosdale
Amount Awarded: $8,620
Institution: Toowoomba Hospital

Effect of Buddy Taping vs Plaster in Boxer’s Fractures (5thMC) –Buddy Study.

Fractures of the metacarpal bones are the most common hand injuries. Fractures through the neck of the 5th metacarpal (little finger hand bone) account for the majority of these. They are known as Boxer’s Fractures, as they are often sustained during a punch. Boxer’s fractures are traditionally managed in plaster, but in recent years there has been some suggestion that to simply ‘tape’ the little and ring fingers together will allow similar recovery with the advantage of full mobilisation. Currently there is not enough evidence to recommend one treatment over another. Potential benefits of buddy taping include: earlier return to…

Principal Investigator: Dr Richard Pellatt
Amount Awarded: $17,425
Institution: Gold Coast University Hospital

Paced Electrocardiogram Requiring Fast Emergent Coronary Therapy (PERFECT) Study

The aim of this study is to assess the performance characteristics of the modified Sgarbossa criteria for diagnosis of ACO in VPR. This is a multi-centre international trial. The number of patients presenting to our Emergency Departments with pacemakers continues to increase. Investigating whether such patients are having a heart attack is challenging. For patients without pacemakers, ECG criteria can be used to identify a subset of patients who are having a heart attack. However, for patients with pacemakers, there are no accurate electrocardiograph (ECG) criteria to diagnose heart attacks. This research has the potential to identify AMI in patients…

Principal Investigator: Dr Gary Mitchell
Amount Awarded: $16,866
Institution: Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital

Ketamine vs Propofol in Sedation of Psychiatric/Psychotic Patients requiring Retrieval.

The research aim is to conduct as a randomised clinical trial comparing the use of Ketamine and Propofol in sedating acute psychiatric patients for safe aeromedical retrieval. The inherent dangers of the aviation environment combined with the potential and unpredictable behaviour of acute psychiatric patients presents a challenge to even the most experienced aeromedical retrieval clinician. An efficacious sedation drug is vital in this environment to ensure patient and crew safety and to minimise patient distress. The outcomes of this research will highlight the potential complications, the safety profile and efficacy of different sedation agent utilised in the sedation of…

Principal Investigator: Ms Jodie Mills
Amount Awarded: $50,000
Institution: CareFlight