An observational study in Acetabular Fracture, sponsored by Unity Health Toronto. Recruiting at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 60 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-12.
Sponsored by Unity Health Toronto · Observational
Management of acetabular (hip) fractures in the geriatric population can be very challenging because of pre-existing medical comorbidities, pre-existing osteoporosis and increased risk of mortality.
The two most common treatment options for acetabular fractures are either surgical fixation using plates and screws to hold the fractured pieces in the correct position until the fracture has healed or surgical fixation in addition to a total hip replacement.
Surgical fixation requires prolonged immobilization of the affected limb (typically around 6-12 weeks post-operatively), which can lead to disability and other complications. Such patients, especially those who are frail and cognitively impaired, are unable to adhere to the immobilization restrictions, leading to an increased risk of fixation failure.
Patients who underwent open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) of an acetabular fracture were reported to have about 25 times greater incidence of hip replacement compared with general population matched controls.
Additionally, performing a subsequent hip replacement after a previous surgical fixation (ORIF) of an acetabular fracture, especially in the elderly population, can present a number of technical difficulties including; difficult dissection due to previous incision(s) and scarring, dealing with retained hardware, bony deficiency and the possibility of infected hardware.
The aim of the study is to perform a large cohort study to assess pain and physical function in patients 60 years and older who have sustained an acetabular fracture.
This is a multicentre observational cohort study, involving academic institutions affiliated with the Canadian Orthopaedic Trauma Society (COTS).
The study aims to compare two surgical treatments of acetabular fractures in patients 60 years of age and older. Patients who consent to participate will be included in the study and followed up as per standard of care up to 24 months after surgery. Participants will be treated for their acetabular fracture with either acute primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) together with open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) in the same surgery or ORIF alone as per surgeon discretion.
After surgery, patients will be assessed using patient-reported outcomes oxford hip score, which is a valid, reliable, responsive measure of pain and function during short-term and long-term follow-up for hip osteoarthritis and THA.
The European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), will be used to assess the patient's quality of life and health status. The questionnaire is short and easy to use and shows good responsiveness in orthopaedic patients who undergo a hip replacement.
Timed Up \& Go Test (TUG) measures functional mobility (in seconds), and is a well-validated predictor of mobility and falls in patients who undergo orthopaedic surgery and hip replacement.
All patients will be followed as per standard of care for their follow up visits at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months.
Unity Health Toronto is the lead sponsor of 434 studies on the registry; 76 are open to participants now.
Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 1 (20%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
All patients 60 years of age and older, presenting at the participant hospital sites with a displaced acetabular fracture and who need surgery to fix their fracture, either total hip replacement (THA) together with surgical fixation (ORIF) or surgical fixation (ORIF) alone, will be screened for the study.
Patients who meet the trial eligibility criteria will be approached by a member of the research team. The study will be explained in detail and written informed consent will be undertaken with those patients who wish to participate in the study. Outcomes for participants will be measured and captured during regularly scheduled clinic/hospital visits
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients will receive acute primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) with open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) as a treatment for their acetabular fracture
Patients will receive open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) as a treatment for their acetabular fracture
Oxford Hip score
Oxford Hip Score is a short 12-item patient-reported outcome specifically designed and developed to assess function and pain during short-term and long-term follow-up for hip osteoarthritis and hip replacement surgery. It is valid, reliable, reproducible, and sensitive to clinically important changes. An increase in score indicate better joint function. A score between 40-48 indicates satisfactory joint function.
Time frame: Questionnaire will be completed by patients at 3, 6 and 12-months follow-up and repeated measures analysis will be performed to assess the change across all time points (3,6 and 12-months)
Timed Up and Go (TUG) test
TUG is a simple test used to assess a person's mobility (in seconds) and requires both static and dynamic balance. A line is placed on the floor 3 meters away from a chair where patient will be sitting. When instructed to "GO" patient will stand, walk to a line on the floor at his/her regular pace, turn around and walk back to the chair and sit down. The longer it takes for subject to complete the test, higher is the risk of fall and lower is the its functional mobility. Reference values are: 60-69 years old = 8.1 seconds; 70-79 years old = 9.2 seconds; 80-99 years old = 11.3 seconds. Over 14 seconds is associate with high risk of fall
Time frame: Test will be completed at 3, 6,12 and 24-months follow-up
Visual Analogue Scale of pain (VAS)
Assess pain from a visual scale that ranges from 0 to 10. Straight line with the endpoints defining extreme limits such as 'no pain at all' (zero) and 'pain as bad as it could be' (ten)
Time frame: Patients will indicate their pain level at 24, 48 hours, 6 weeks, 3, 6,12 and 24-months after surgery
Total Morphine Equivalents Usage
The sum (cumulative) of amount of opiates dosage (in milligram) prescribed daily (24hours) and converted in total morphine equivalent dosage (total dosage every 24 hours).
Time frame: The outcome will be assessed daily from the day of the surgery until the patient gets discharge from the hospital (24 hours up to 7 days)
Health status and quality of life
The European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) is a patient-reported outcome where patients self-rate their level of severity of health status and health related quality of life. Consists of 5 dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression) and each one of them has 5 levels (no problems, slight problems, moderate problems, severe problems, and extreme problems) where patients will indicate how they feel regarding their health status and quality of life.
Time frame: Questionnaire will be completed by patients at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12 and 24-months follow-up
Length of hospital stay
How many days the patient stay in the hospital
Time frame: The outcome will be assessed from the day of the surgery until the patient gets discharge from the hospital (at a maximum of 30 days after the surgery)
Discharge location
Site where the patient gets discharge, such as home, rehabilitation, acute care facility
Time frame: from the day of the surgery until the patient gets discharge from the hospital
Time to full-weight bearing
time (in days) that takes for the patient to start walking after the surgery
Time frame: Since the first day after surgery up to 12 months
Time to return to work and activities of daily life
How many days until the patients return to their normal daily life activities such as independently walking, bathing/showering, grooming, dressing, etc. and How many days until patients return to work
Time frame: from the day of the surgery up to 24 months follow up
Hospital Re-admission
Any admission to any hospital after the patients is discharge from the hospital where he/she underwent the surgical treatment for acetabular fracture
Time frame: Within 30 days of discharge
Plan to share: Undecided
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