Inova Trauma Center is committed to the improvement of patient care through research. Our research program includes both funded and unfunded projects. It is supported by a full-time research manager and full-time research associate who are focused on trauma research.
Trauma surgeons, fellows, residents, and students actively engage in research activities at Inova Trauma Center. Our team is supported by the Department of Surgery's biostatistician.
Active studies at Inova Trauma Center include fifteen original (investigator initiated) projects, three of which involve collaboration with other departments and subspecialists. In addition, we are currently working on six multi-institutional studies in collaboration with external university partners.
Areas of Study
Our areas of study vary and our methodologies include clinical trials, survey research, qualitative methods and secondary data analysis. Our "Prospective comparison of a short vs. long chest tube water seal trial for traumatic pneumothorax" is an example of an investigator-initiated multi-institutional study in which we recruited 19 trauma centers to provide a contemporary description of the practices and outcomes of chest tube management to identify best practices for trauma providers.
Our "Building Rapport and Earning the Surgical Patient’s Trust in the Era of Social Distancing” teaches and assesses medical student patient-centered communication with video conferencing; our program has been widely disseminated in the literature and conferences over the years.
In 2016 we initiated a multi-institutional point-prevalence study in our Trauma Intensive Care Unit, enrolling 46 trauma centers to provide a contemporary description of the conditions, diagnoses, patterns, differences, and resource use for patients in trauma ICUs. The multiple publications resulting from this study are among the fifteen peer-reviewed publications credited to our investigators each year. Our investigators travel nationally and internationally to present work conducted at Inova Trauma Center.
Safety Research
Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN)
Through our work with the CIREN Program, Inova Trauma Center is at the forefront of research on how to improve car design to minimize injury. CIREN allows clinicians, engineers and crash reconstruction experts to analyze vehicle crashes and patient injuries to improve auto safety and reduce death and disability.
Learn more about the CIREN Program
Learn More About Our Research
Click to learn more about Inova Trauma Center research programs and projects