Clinical Research

We have many clinical research projects. These include blood clot prevention after joint replacement, knee and hip replacement effectiveness evaluations, and pain medication used during surgery.

Study participants help us learn what works and what might be improved by completing questionnaires before (ingo) and after (outcome) surgical or non-surgical treatment. The ingo questionnaire data is essential as it establishes a patient’s baseline. Questionnaires include those regarding health, life quality, and mobility. This outcomes research allows us to evaluate and complete treatments to identify what’s best for patients.

Collaborations

Laboratory of Dr. Angela Hewlett

Angela Hewlett, MD, MS, serves as Director of the Orthopedic Infectious Diseases team at UNMC. The Orthopedic Infectious Disease (Ortho ID)  team actively collaborates with colleagues in Orthopaedic Surgery, pharmacy, microbiology, immunology, and others to investigate research questions and participate in quality improvement projects with the ultimate goal of providing the highest level of inpatient and outpatient care for patients with complicated bone and joint infections. 

Utilizing an integrated multidisciplinary approach, previous collaborative research projects have included both basic science and clinical endeavors involving Staphylococcal colonization and perioperative infection risk reduction, enhanced diagnostics for bone and joint infections, antimicrobial prophylaxis in patients with open fractures, and various other projects surrounding the evaluation and management of patients with prosthetic joint infections. These projects resulted in scientific abstract presentations, publications in scientific journals, scholarly presentations at national meetings, and the development of quality improvement initiatives at UNMC, which are shared with other institutions on a regional and national level.

Dr. Hewlett is a past president of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS), where she and other UNMC Ortho ID team members participate in multidisciplinary collaborative research projects with Infectious Diseases physicians and Orthopaedic surgeons from other institutions. Alongside members of the UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Hewlett has also served as a member of various working groups involving the care of patients with complicated bone and joint infections and participated in guideline writing for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).