Measurements include core body temperature and serum markers of systemic inammation and brain injury. The team is lead by Dr David Beard.The TOPKAT team in Aberdeen consists of statisticians and triallists who have great experience and expertise in running large randomised surgical trials. In brief, TOPCAT is a prospective observational study ofpatients withOHCA during the prehospital phase of resuscitation, while in the Emergency Department, and through to the Intensive Care Unit. Other members of the team include outcome analysists and health economists. The research team in Oxford consist of academic and clinical staff, surgeons, physiotherapists and nurses, with research experience and expertise in Orthopaedics. hospital stays, operating theatre equipment) Patient focused questionnaires regarding the economic cost of the treatment Patient focused questionnaires regarding knee pain and function Information to be collected and analysed includes: Patient recruitment is over a 2 year period. TOPKAT will aim to recruit 500 patients altogether from approximately 20 centres throughout the United Kingdom. Patients will be recruited by their Consultant Knee Surgeon in collaboration with the local research team. The aim of TOPKAT will be to assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of Total Knee Replacements versus Unicompartmental Knee Replacements in patients with medial osteoarthritis. Each intervention is considered standard care but little evidence exists to prove the clinical and cost effectiveness of either management option. Both interventions are established and well documented procedures, yet little evidence exists to support their practices. There is little agreement amongst knee surgeons.
Others feel it is best to replace just the damaged component of the knee with a Unicompartmental Replacement (UKR). Some surgeons feel that it is always best to replace both the knee compartments with a Total Knee Replacement (TKR). There are two different approaches to replacing this arthritic area. In the majority of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee the disease originates in the medial compartment. The project is funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme.
The Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) at the University of Oxford will co-ordinate the trial in collaboration with the Health Services Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen. The TOPKAT trial is a multi-centre randomised controlled trial designed to examine the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of total and partial knee replacements for medial compartmental osteoarthritis. Total or Partial Knee Arthroplasty Trial (TOPKAT)