Effectiveness of rib fixation compared to pain medication alone on pain control in patients with uncomplicated rib fractures: study protocol of a pragmatic multicenter randomized controlled trial—the PAROS study (Pain After Rib OSteosynthesis)

Table 2 Participant timeline

		Study period
	Enrolment	Allocation	Post-allocation and discharge	Follow-up				Close-out
Timepoint	*−1D*	T0	4D	1M	*2M (visit)*	3M	*6M (visit)*	*12M*
Enrolment:
Eligibility screen	X
Informed consent	X
Allocation		X
Interventions:
Rib fixation			X
Assessments:
Pain and pain interference (BPI)	X			X	X	X	X	X
Anxiety and depression (HADS)	X			X	X			X
Neuropathic pain (DN4)					X
Quality of life (SF-36)	X				X		X	X
Analgesic medication	X			X	X	X	X	X
Productivity and return to work (WPAI)				X	X	X	X	X
Pulmonary function					X		X
Length of hospital stay			X
Total costs								X

Timepoints are given in days (D) and months (M) with T0 at allocation time
BPI brief pain inventory, HADS Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, DN4 neuropathic pain diagnostic questionnaire, SF-36 short form (36) health survey, WPAI work productivity and activity impairment questionnaire

ISSN: 1745-6215