Via Research Recognition Day Program VCOM-Carolinas 2025

Clinical Educational Research

COST-EFFECTIVE MODEL OF A COLLES FRACTURE TO IMPROVE CONFIDENCE AND PROFICIENCY IN CLOSED FRACTURE REDUCTION Erik Benson, OMS-III, Morgan Minner, OMS-III, Anthony Chaknis, OMS-III, Madison Sacks, OMS-III, Manuella Harb, OMS-II, Emmaline Wolfe, OMS-II Michael Parks, MPA, NREMT, David Redden, PhD, Dr. Tom Lindsey, DO Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas, Simulation Center, Spartanburg, SC.

Introduction

Results

Results cont.

Methods ● Colles fractures are a common orthopedic injury seen when falling on an outstretched hand, and pose significant neurovascular complications if not reduced effectively. 4 ● The dorsal displacement of the distal radius occurring in this injury may compromise the radial artery, restricting perfusion to the hand. 4 ● There are no commercially available Colles Fracture Reduction models that simulate recovery of blood flow and subsequent pulse upon proper reduction. ● Fracture Reduction Models have been studied extensively among residents and prove to be beneficial 3 , yet studies have not been performed extensively involving medical students. ● The knowledge and proper demonstration of fracture reduction with pulse recovery will enhance the quality of medical education, ultimately contributing to improved patient outcomes and reduced long-term complications associated with Colles fractures. ● This project was established to develop a cost-effective model designed to enhance medical students’ proficiency and confidence of performing a closed reduction of a Colles fracture. ● The model had silicone rubber flesh and skin as well as dense plastic bones. Embedded into the model were electronics to detect the displacement of the bones and a motor to simulate a palpable pulse. ● 49 Participants: 25 in Experiment & 24 in Control ● Presentation on the identification, classification and management of Colles Fractures ● Control only received presentation and Experiment received presentation and hands-on training, with identical surveys conducted before and after ● The hands-on training consisted of a brief explanation of model’s capability to replicate a displaced Colles Fracture with a

Figure 5. Clinical Application of Fracture Model

Discussion

● By conducting an educational presentation, we observed that theoretical knowledge helped instill confidence in ability to perform real-life fracture reductions (Figure 4). ● Although hands-on training with our fracture model resulted in a two-fold increase in confidence, this difference was not statistically significant compared to Control (Figure 4). ● All Experiment participants acknowledged the model’s effectiveness in improving their confidence for real-world scenarios (Figure 5). Analysis of our data yielded the treatment statistically insignificant. Potential areas to improve study design have been identified: ● Increasing the sample size would increase the power of our analysis. ● Both intervention and competence assessment were didactic in nature, which may not have captured the educational benefits of practicing the physical mechanics of reduction. ● A gap exists in the measure of the independent interval change in confidence of the presentation, followed by the additional change in confidence in the presence or absence of hands-on training with the model. ● Future studies may seek to more deeply assess learner mechanical proficiency of reduction.

Figure 3. Comparing the academic performance on pre-surveys and post-surveys for both Control and Experiment Statistical analysis of the survey results did yield a statistically significant difference in the performance from pre-survey to post-survey regardless of group (p <0.0001). However, the difference in academic performance between Control and Experiment was found not to be statistically significant (p = 0.82) with using a Type I error rate of 0.05.

Conclusion

demonstration of the proper exaggeration, traction, and flexion to reduce a Colles Fracture ● Following the demonstration participants performed the reduction with guidance and feedback from an instructor. ● Collected Data was divided by separate online surveys

● While previous research primarily focused on residents, our study targeted medical students. 1 ● Beyond conceptual understanding gained through presentations, models present an opportunity to enhance practical confidence and preparedness, providing a valuable bridge to real-life scenarios.

Figure 4. Evaluating students’ confidence levels in reducing Colles Fracture before and after the interventions After the presentation, the average confidence increased by 120% in the Control and 213% in the Experiment. The increase in mean confidence between the groups was not found to be statistically significant (p = 0.08) using a Type I error rate of 0.05.

References

1. Olson, N., Griggs, J., Balhara, K. S., Kann, K., April, M. D., & Olson, A. S. (2022). Evaluation of a Hands-On Wrist Fracture Simulator for Fracture Management Training in Emergency Medicine Residents. Cureus , 14 (7), e27030. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.27030 2. Karam, M. D., Kho, J. Y., Yehyawi, T. M., Ohrt, G. T., Thomas, G. W., Jonard, B., Anderson, D. D., & Marsh, J. L. (2012). Application of surgical skill simulation training and assessment in orthopaedic trauma. The Iowa orthopaedic journal , 32 , 76 – 82. 3. Dixon, W., Miller, N., Toal, G. G., Sebok-Syer, S. S., & Gisondi, M. A. (2021). Development of a 3D printed simulator for closed reduction of distal radius fractures. Perspectives on medical education , 10 (3), 192 – 195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-020-00609-wDixon, W., Miller, N., Toal, G. G., Sebok-Syer, S. S., & Gisondi, M. A. (2021, June). Development of a 3D printed simulator for closed reduction of distal radius fractures . Perspectives on medical education. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8187689/ 4. Hansen, J. T., Netter, F. H., Machado, C. A. G., Craig, J. A., Perkins, J. A., Marzejon, K. W., & DaVanzo, T. S. (2022). Netter's clinical anatomy (Fifth, Ser. [netter basic science]). Elsevier.

Figure 2. Fracture Model Display

Figure 1. Fracture Model Internal Structure

2025 Research Recognition Day

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