Comparison of different models of providing physiotherapy care for people with simple musculoskeletal injuries presenting to Emergency Department

Does primary contact physiotherapy for people presenting to the Emergency Department with simple peripheral musculoskeletal injuries result in reduced patient length of stay in the Emergency Department compared with secondary contact physiotherapy?

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12607000607471

Enrollment

320

Registered

2007-11-26

Start date

2008-02-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Physiotherapists are being used more often in Emergency Departments to help treat people with simple musculoskeletal injuries. The physiotherapist in the Emergency Department can treat directly (primary contact physiotherapy), or treat after the patient is first seen by a doctor who then refers on to physiotherapy (secondary contact physiotherapy). The aim of this project is to compare the different models of physiotherapy services for people with simple peripheral musculoskeletal injuries presenting to Emergency Departments. It is hypothesised that compared to secondary contact physiotherapy, primary contact physiotherapy will reduce length of stay in the Emergency Department, without having any adverse effects, such as an increased re-presentation rate.

Interventions

Primary contact physiotherapy assessment and management of simple peripheral musculoskeletal injuries presenting to Emergency Department. Primary contact physiotherapy is when the patient is referred directly to the physiotherapist after triage. The intervention comprises a single episode of care expected to last less than 3 hours. The complete duration of the project is expected to be 18 months.

Study design

Allocation

Non-randomised trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to -2147483648 No limit

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Present to Emergency Department at Eastern Health at Box Hill, Maroondah or Angliss Hospitals 2. Simple peripheral musculoskeletal injury (e.g. ankle sprain, knee injury, shoulder strain, elow or wrist injury)

Exclusion criteria

1. The injury results from significant trauma such as motor vehicle accident, or a fall from a height > 1 m 2. Red flags indicating serious pathology are identified 3. Patient presents with any of the following: open fracture, unreduced dislocation, open wounds, loss of consciousness, shortness of breath with chest pain and left arm pain, dizziness or headache, complex co-morbidities, pregnancy, neck pain, or low back pain

Outcome results