Clinical Trials and Bedsore Research

Clinical trials are often held in order to study the potential effectiveness of a new type of treatment for bedsores. In conjunction with research, clinical trials offer innovation and creative treatment options that may be used in the future. If you, or your loved one currently has a bedsore, you may wish to consider participation in a clinical trial if standard treatment options are not working. New drugs, treatment devices or procedures may be able to alleviate the symptoms of bedsores or help to accelerate healing. Additionally, clinical trials provide treatment for free, in exchange for your cooperation with the study.

Keep in mind that clinical trials do carry some measure of risk, and that results are not guaranteed. In almost all cases, there will be certain criteria that must be met in order for you or your loved one to participate in the trial. The decision to participate in a clinical trial should be made under the advice of a qualified physician with an understanding of the unique circumstances involved along with patient history and other assessments.

Types of Clinical Trials

Clinical trials generally fall into three main categories – trials to study a device, trials to study a procedure, or trials to study the effect of a drug or some other form of medication. Clinical trials generally go through several phases, with the possibility of acceptance into the trial available at one or more of these phases. In the first phase of clinical trials, you can expect that there will be a lot of adjustments to be made in terms of dosage, as well as the medication schedule or implementation times for the use of the device. During the latter phases, once a safe dosage has been determined, a larger pool of participants will be selected to monitor. In the final phase, long-term effects of the treatment are monitored, and this usually takes several years to complete.

One thing to keep in mind with all types of clinical trials is the fact that you may be part of the control group versus the experimental group. This means that you would not receive the new drug or have use of the device, but instead would be treated with standard and accepted treatments in order to provide an accurate measure as to whether or not the treatment being tested in the clinical trials is indeed effective. In the case of clinical trials for drugs, you would not be informed of this, though the researchers performing the trials might have access to this information.

If you are interested in clinical trials, one of the best places to search is ClinicalTrials.gov, which maintains a listing of current clinical trials within the United States, along with the requirements for joining, and any published results of trials that have already been completed.