UH Rainbow Extensive Surgical Orthopaedic Database Spurs Multicenter Research

Pediatric Orthopaedic Update | Winter 2021

By Ray Liu, MD, UH Rainbow Pediatric Orthopaedics, Professor of Orthopaedics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Raymond Liu, MD

The division of orthopaedic surgery at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s has a rich history of surgical databases, as noted in the previous story on the history of Rainbow spinal research and the intersection with scoliosis study groups.

This research legacy is continuing with the expert help of clinical research specialist Jason Pellman, PhD, and international research fellow Kouami Amakoutou, MD, who are leading efforts for two new multicenter study groups.

Children’s Hospitals Investigating Limb Deformity (CHILD) currently has five centers with institutional review board approval and full data use agreements. The study group has enrolled 98 patients between Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and UH Rainbow, with the plan to begin enrollment at multiple additional sites in the coming months.

Children’s Hospitals Intrathecal Pump (CHIP) currently has four centers with institutional review board approval and full data use agreements. The study group has enrolled 19 patients across all sites. Additional sites are in the process of joining and we are preparing our first research abstracts.

In addition to these new ventures. UH Rainbow research teams remain actively involved in several international multicenter spinal research groups. Rainbow pediatric orthopaedic researchers are active participants in the Pediatric Spine Study Group which focuses on the treatment of early onset scoliosis. Dr. Glotzbecker is currently the chair of the research council of that study group and Dr. Hardesty is a research interest group leader.  We also are actively participating in the Harms Study Group, which collaborates research on patients with Idiopathic Scoliosis and Neuromuscular scoliosis.  All members of our spine team also participate in the National Spinal Surgeon Performance Program.

Our sports research collaborative efforts continue to grow, as well. UH Rainbow sports medicine researchers have helped lead the establishment of a 13-center retrospective database on pediatric tibial spine fractures and are establishing a prospective study with the help of a POSNA Arthur H. Huene Memorial Award. We also have established multicenter research study groups for pediatric ACL tears and shoulder instability with Geisinger Medical Center and the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Our teams are excited to partner with colleagues across the country and the world to better understand how to best treat complex pediatric orthopaedic conditions and improve the lives of children.

You can reach Dr. Liu at Raymond.Liu@UHhospitals.org.