Clinical Trials — Surgery, MSK & Wound Care

Randomized clinical trials in surgery, musculoskeletal disease, and wound healing (meniscal tear, knee OA, fracture, wound therapy, telesurgery), from NEJM · Lancet · Nature Medicine · BMJ (2024–2026)

8findings in 5 areas, across 4 of 5 papers

How the star rating worksShow

Every paper starts at 5★ and loses stars for the concrete problems the review finds — never a vague average, just a running total:

Reporting — 8 dimensionseach dimension that fails (−½★) or is partially met (−¼★)−½ / −¼
Statistics · Integrity · Claimseach serious problem (−1★) · each medium problem−½★
Citationseach retracted or unverifiable reference−½★
Copyeditonly when the manuscript needs a full edit−½★

The rating never drops below 1★, and a demonstrable critical failure (an impossible statistic, a proven ethics violation) caps it at 1★ on its own.

Papers are reviewed on their original full text — any retraction notice is removed before analysis — so the findings reflect the science, not the label.

Sort

5 papers

Interventional · Lancet0/8Action Items · Critical / High

Negative pressure wound therapy versus usual care in patients with surgical wound healing by secondary intention in the UK (SWHSI-2): an open-label, multicentre, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial.

Arundel C, Mandefield L, Fairhurst C, Baird K, Gkekas A, Saramago P, Chetter I, SWHSI-2 Trial Investigators

3.5 / 5

Data/code availability incompleteInternal contradictions in the reported numbersKey resources under-identified (antibodies, cell lines, RRIDs)+1 more

2/2 links livestats consistentregistered

3 Adcurare Rigor Reviewers · high confidenceAI Rigor Reviewers trained on Adcurare corpus · verify findings

Read paperPMC Journal

Interventional · N Engl J Med0/4Action Items · Critical / High

A Randomized Trial of Physical Therapy for Meniscal Tear and Knee Pain.

Katz JN, Collins JE, Bisson L, Jones MH, Irrgang JJ, Selzer F, Safran-Norton CE, Spindler KP, Yang HY, Shrestha S, Bennell KL, Sullivan JK, Kluczynski MA, Arant K, Opare-Addo M, Huizinga JL, Zimmerman Z, Sople D, Tonsoline P, Kale M, Wind WM Jr, Chen AF, Freitas M, Lesniak B, Jordan K, Matzkin EG, Dawson C, Farrow L, Musahl V, Leddy JJ, Martin SD, Losina E

4.25 / 5

Data and code not sharedEthics/consent reporting incomplete

Conclusions

9 supported · 2 partial of 11

8 Rigor Dimensions

5 of 8 pass · 1 warn · 1 fail

Verified

1/2 links livestats consistentregistered

3 Adcurare Rigor Reviewers · high confidenceAI Rigor Reviewers trained on Adcurare corpus · verify findings

Read paperPMC Journal

Interventional · BMJ0/5Action Items · Critical / High

Cast immobilisation versus surgery for unstable lateral malleolus fractures (SUPER-FIN): randomised non-inferiority clinical trial.

Kortekangas T, Lehtola R, Leskelä HV, Taimela S, Ohtonen P, Savola O, Järvinen TLN, Pakarinen H

4.75 / 5

Statistical reporting gaps (tests, assumptions, effect sizes)

Conclusions

11 supported · 1 partial of 12

8 Rigor Dimensions

7 of 8 pass · 1 warn

Verified

1/1 links livestats consistentregistered

3 Adcurare Rigor Reviewers · high confidenceAI Rigor Reviewers trained on Adcurare corpus · verify findings

Read paperPMC Journal

Interventional · BMJ0/2Action Items · Critical / High

Reliability of urological telesurgery compared with local surgery: multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Wang Y, Xia D, Xu W, Rexiati M, Zhao W, Huang Q, Shi T, Wang B, Wang S, Tai S, Qiao B, Zhang Y, Ye S, Zhang X, Mao J, Zhu Y, Wang H, Ma S, Yang C, Fu W, Song T, Ai Q, Song Y, Xu L, Yang G, Gao Y, Niu S, Guo J, Liu G, Xiang X, Liang C, Ma X, Li H, Zhang X, TeleS Research Group

4.75 / 5

Data/code availability incomplete

Conclusions

7 supported · 2 partial of 9

8 Rigor Dimensions

7 of 8 pass · 1 warn

Verified

2/2 links livestats consistentregistered

3 Adcurare Rigor Reviewers · high confidenceAI Rigor Reviewers trained on Adcurare corpus · verify findings

Read paperPMC Journal

Interventional · BMJ0/3Action Items · Critical / High

Provision of knee bracing for knee osteoarthritis (PROP OA): multicentre, parallel group, superiority, statistician blinded, randomised controlled trial.

Holden MA, Nicholls E, Abdali Z, Birrell F, Borrelli B, Callaghan M, Dziedzic K, Felson D, Foster NE, Halliday N, Ingram C, Jinks C, Jowett S, Peat G, PROP OA trial team

2/2 links livestats consistentregistered

3 Adcurare Rigor Reviewers · high confidenceAI Rigor Reviewers trained on Adcurare corpus · verify findings

Read paperPMC Journal

Share this gallery with your network

Post on X Share on LinkedIn Share via Email

How to read this. The engine surfaces specific, verifiable rigor problems. It does notpredict retractions, and a “pass” is not a guarantee of soundness. Papers are analyzed on their published full text with any retraction notice removed, so detection is content-based. Real-world outcome labels (retracted, landmark) are curator-assigned from the public record; the verdict and every surfaced problem are the engine’s own. These are selected examples.