NGMC’S Level I trauma center among eight chosen for international clinical trial

Researchers at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Gainesville’s Level I trauma center are participating in an international clinical trial to study how a device could increase trauma patients’ chances of survival.

NGMC Gainesville was chosen among eight leading Level I trauma centers across the United States and Canada.

The trauma team at NGMC Gainesville already performs partial resuscitative balloon occlusion of the aorta – also known as Partial REBOA –to help stop a patient’s internal bleeding through a device called pREBOA-PRO. The technique temporarily stops or limits blood flow through the aorta, according to biomedcentral.com.

The team at NGMC will participate in the clinical trial, called the PROMPT (Partial REBOA Outcomes Multicenter ProspecTive) Study, to share data about the use of the device.

“No one should bleed to death – and the sooner we can stop the bleeding, the better,” said NGMC Medical Director of Trauma, Dr. Matthew Vassy. “Time is of the essence for trauma patients, and this PROMPT study should give us compelling data to improve how we save lives.”

According to Northeast Georgia Health System, which operates the Gainesville hospital, the PROMPT study will provide the trauma community with in-depth clinical data by enrolling 340 patients in two years across all eight selected centers. NGMC patients who match the study criteria will be automatically enrolled in the study this spring.