Groundbreaking Blood Clot Prevention Trial, Co-Led by University of Maryland Department of Orthopaedics, Receives Prestigious Clinical Research Award

The Clinical Research (CR) Forum has recognized a landmark blood clot prevention trial, co-led by the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), for its impact on the health and well-being of patients. The PREVENT CLOT trial, which enrolled more than 12,000 patients at 21 trauma centers in the United States and Canada, was one of two studies to receive the nonprofit organization’s Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award earlier this month. 

The study found that low-cost aspirin was as effective in preventing life-threatening blood clots as an injectable blood thinner, low-molecular-weight heparin, following surgery to repair extremity fractures. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2023. It is the largest clinical trial ever conducted on orthopedic trauma patients and has prompted some institutions to update their blood clot prevention policies.

The Department of Orthopaedics co-led the trial with the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium (METRC) based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Robert V. O’Toole, MD, the Hansjörg Wyss Medical Foundation Endowed Professor in Orthopaedic Trauma at UMSOM and Chief of Orthopaedics at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), was principal investigator and lead author. Deborah Stein, MD, MPH, Professor of Surgery at UMSOM and Director of Adult Critical Care Services at UMMC, and Renan Castillo, PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School, were co-principal investigators.

The award was presented at the CR Forum’s Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Awards April 2 in Las Vegas. The award recognizes creativity, innovation or a novel approach that demonstrates an immediate impact on the health and well-being of patients. 

The CR Forum, a membership association of top clinical research experts and thought leaders from the nation’s leading academic health centers, presents awards its Top Ten awards each year to highlight outstanding research advances that involve both innovation and impact on human diseases

“This year’s award winners demonstrate the immense value of our nation’s investment in clinical research, and the direct impact of that work on the health of millions of people in the United States,” said Harry P. Selker, MD, MSPH, CR Forum Board Chair and Dean of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Tufts University. “For many, these innovative studies and related clinical trials may represent the only hope for surviving a life-threatening disease. They also pave the way to advance new therapies and treatments that improve public health.”