Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2005

Mentor: Lawson A. B. Copley, M.D.
Department: Orthopaedic Surgery
Room number: D03, Children's Medical Center of Dallas
Mail Code: D03-314.2
Phone number: (214) 456-5614
E-mail: lawson.copley@childrens.com
Project title: Epidemiology of Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Musculoskeletal Infections in Pediatric Patients

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 082004-049

Project Type: Patient-based research

Brief Description of Project:
Recent clinical experience suggests that the epidemiology of musculoskeletal infections treated at Children's Medical Center of Dallas (CMC) has evolved in the past 20 years. Current trends include the rising incidence of subacute osteomyelitis and the increasing incidence of community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in deep musculoskeletal infections. We have found that surgery has increasingly become an essential adjunct to the treatment of complex and chronic infections. Additionally, we commonly encounter conditions previously reported in limited case series or case reports such as nontropical pyomyositis and deep venous thrombosis associated with osteomyelitis.
A 4 year retrospective review will be conducted utilizing the medical records of children with musculoskeletal infections who were treated at CMC from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2004. Our initial record search indicates that this will include approximately 800-1000 patients. The institutional incidence of type and location of infection, causative organism, antibiotic sensitivity and selection, treatment methods, frequency and extent of surgical intervention, frequency of orthopedic surgery or infectious disease consultation, duration of follow-up, and reported outcomes will be established. These findings will be compared to a previous retrospective review that was performed at the same institution 20 years ago. We will also report our current institutional experience with nontropical pyomyositis and deep venous thrombosis associated with pediatric musculoskeletal sepsis and compare this to that of recent case reports.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:
My previous research activities have included basic science and clinical research projects which have led to 6 grants, 8 posters and exhibits, and 19 publications. While I have not conducted research directly with medical students in the past, I have supervised the research of orthopedic residents at both the University of Missouri, Kansas City and at the University of Texas Southwestern.
My basic research activities have included work with electrical stimulation of the beagle growth plate and the development of a unique fetal calf skull model to simulate pediatric skull thickness used to test design features and application methods of pediatric halo pins. My clinical research has included a retrospective review of the use of hemodilution in scoliosis surgery and prospective clinical outcomes study of pain management methods following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and joint replacement surgery.
My desire is to establish a mentoring relationship with a summer research fellow to help that individual understand the background and methodology of this clinical research while providing an opportunity to participate in process of data collection, database entry, analysis and review with our research statistician. We will also work in a collaborative manner on preparing presentations and publications from this work.

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