Priorities for traumatic brachial plexus Injury research
We always want to highlight the fantastic work of our Mentors, and this time the focus is on Tom Quick. Tom is a clinical academic and surgeon specialising in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve injury.
In a recent peer review at the Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume) the James Lind Alliance Top 10 research project is now in print. Titled: Priorities for traumatic brachial plexus Injury research: a James Lind Alliance priority setting partnership
Congratulations to Tom Quick, Hazel Brown and the whole team on this key publication with the James Lind Alliance. This is an important publication and the culmination of a two-year project bringing together the views of those with brachial plexus injury, their families and clinicians specialising in adult traumatic brachial plexus injury.
What particularly stands out from a medico-legal perspective is the emphasis placed on biomarkers and clinical decision-making pathways. As research in these areas develops and becomes validated, it has the potential to significantly influence how injury severity, prognosis and causation are assessed in expert evidence and explained to the courts.
Furthermore, the emphasis on robotic assistive technology highlights the potential for future innovation in supportive care; an area which is likely to gain increasing prominence in litigation, as the rate of technological advancement is likely to continue outstripping the delivery of biologic therapies for the next decade or so.
The identification of valid research priorities provides an invaluable roadmap for future innovation in traumatic brachial plexus injury and highlights issues that are relevant to the courts as well as the clinic.
Well done to everyone involved and a particular congratulations to Tom Quick, one of Pathway’s fantastic Mentors, specialising in peripheral nerve injury and brachial plexus injury in all ages.
To read the journal article, please follow this link:
Priorities for traumatic brachial plexus Injury research: a James Lind Alliance priority setting partnership