RBWH Trauma team takes top awards at major multi-disciplinary event

Dr Frances Williamson (left) and Dr Andrea McKittrick picked up the top awards.

Members of the RBWH Trauma team have recently received prestigious honours for their research work.

The work was presented at the Australia and New Zealand Trauma Society Trauma Conference 2024, where Dr Frances Williamson and her team won Best Medical Oral Presentation and Dr Andrea McKittrick won Best Poster.

That meant RBWH took out the top awards at the multi-disciplinary event, with representation from every major trauma centre across Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Williamson’s paper ‘Community opioid dispensing after rib fracture injuries: CODI study’ found that after hospitalisation for rib fractures, 8 per cent of patients require opiate medications at two years post admission. The study found factors associated with long prescribing include female gender, older age and opioid exposure in the previous three months before injury. Future work will review the impact of a multimodal analgesic strategy during inpatient care and focus on collaborating with community prescribers.

The paper also won a UQ Critical Care Research award.

McKittrick’s work was around 3D scanning and printing of masks for burns patients, featuring a very successful case study whose patient experience was vastly improved by the technology. This was a collaboration with the Herston Biofabrication, Burns and Occupational Therapy and demonstrated the huge benefits of working with consumers to improve their outcomes.

It’s no surprise that the findings of the larger study have been accepted by the American Burns Association as a podium presentation for 2025 as they can mean better, faster and quicker treatment for patients.