Townsville Clinical School

Jay Iyer

Senior Lecturer, Obstetrics and Gynaecology
jay.iyer@jcu.edu.au

Susan Gorton

Associate Professor - Paediatrics
susan.gorton@jcu.edu.au

Cec O'Brien

Associate Professor, Reproductive & Neonatal Health
cecelia.obrien@jcu.edu.au

Yoga Kandasamy

JCU Professor
yogavijayan.kandasamy@jcu.edu.au

Andrew White

JCU Associate Professor
andrew.white@jcu.edu.au

Venkat Vangaveti

Senior Research Officer
venkat.vangaveti@jcu.edu.au

Amy Brown

JCU Research Fellow
amy.brown1@my.jcu.edu.au

Telemedicine: New Horizon in Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcer in Rural/Remote Australia (Old ID 22267)

Venkat Vangaveti

01 Aug 2015 - 31 Jul 2022

Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) is a serious complication causing >80% of diabetic lower limb amputations. Compared to Australian major cities, rural/remote areas experience two to three times higher rate of hospitalisation and limb amputation. A program that effectively manages foot ulcers and reduces hospital admissions could substantially reduce the cost of care in diabetes. Supervised care of trained rural nurses with the help of information technology may help solve the scarcity of diabetes would care specialists in the underserved communities. This proposal seeks to assess clinical and economic impact of telemedicine in the management of foot ulcers in rural/remote Australia.

Effects of Galvus (Vildagliptin) on Markers of Inflammation in Diabetic Foot Ulcer: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study (Old ID 21121)

Venkat Vangaveti

01 Aug 2013 - 31 Oct 2018

Interlukin-6 is an established inflammatory marker that has been shown to be increased in individuals with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). Furthermore, DFU has been referred to as an inflammatory state. Therefore, a reduction in inflammatory markers in this high-risk population is likely to correlate with a corresponding improvement of diabetic foot ulcer healing. We aim to study in this pilot clinical trial the effect of Vildagliptin on regulation of IL-6 and its effects on diabetic foot ulcers healing.

Effect of Topical Sodium Thiosulphate on Healing of Chronic Foot Ulcers in Patients with Diabetic Foot Syndromne: A prospectie, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. (Old ID 20914)

Venkat Vangaveti

01 Jan 2013 - 30 Jun 2018

10% of diabetic patients develop chronic foot ulcers, an expensive compliction threatening life and liimbs. Foot pressure relief, wound debridement, infection control and hyperbaric oxygen therapy remain alternative options in the treatment of Diabetic Foot Syndrome (DFS) but successes are suboptimal and are expensive. Sodium thiosulphate (STS), an effective antiocidant and chelating agent for free radicals could prove useful in this regards. They have been found to be beneficial in treatment of woulds caused by calciphylaxis. We aim to sudy the effects of STS on ulcer healing this pilot study.

Clinical and Economic Impact of Telemedicine in Management of Diabetes Foot Ulcer in Rural/Remote areas of North Queensland: A Pilot Study (Old ID 21930)

Venkat Vangaveti

01 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2016

Currently subjects with Diabetic foot ulcers living in rural/remote areas in the region have to travel long distances to Townsville Hospital Diabetes Centre (THDC) on a weekly basis for would care. The annual Medicare cost for care in patients with diabetes who have foot ulcer is 3 times, with inpatient care accounting for 70% of ulcer care costs. We aim to undertake a program that effectively manages foot ulcers and reduces hospital admissions could substantially reduce costs of care in diabetes. We plan to use telemedicine to help solve the scarcity of specialist diabetes would care in underserved communities.

Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Recurrence: A Pilot Study. (Old ID 27555)

Venkat Vangaveti

21 Dec 2021 - 31 Dec 2024

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common complication of diabetes with a recurrence of up to 40% within one year after initial healing. The common cause for recurrence of DFUs is impaired perfusion of lower extremities due to diabetes. This study aims to determine whether extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) can prevent the recurrence of previously healed DFUs since it has been shown that low-energy ESWT can improve microcirculation blood flow of ischemic limbs.

Increased awareness of and access to diabetes and tuberculosis care in New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea (Old ID 22317)

Venkat Vangaveti

01 Jul 2016 - 31 Mar 2021

The 3-year project is intended to (1) raise awareness of Diabetes and TB among the general populationin New Ireland Province (2) Train doctors, nurses, pharmacists and community health workers to effectively treat Diabetes and TB (3) Establish better monitoring of Diabetes and TB in remote areas with the help of electronic registry and mobile phone technology (4) conduct public health campaigns by the local health professionals and to screen and monitor the diseases with the help of mobile phone technology.

A randomised controlled trial of intravenous paracetamol and oral paracetamol to control acute pain (Old ID 21779)

Venkat Vangaveti

01 Jan 2015 - 27 Oct 2016

The objective of this project is to provide evidence that intravenous paracetamol produces superior analgesia than oral paracetamol in the ED setting. Secondary objectives include providing evidence that IV paracetamol produces good patient satisfaction, few side effects and reduced length of hospital stay. The trial is designed as a prospective double blind randomised controlled trial with two parallel groups. 50 patients will receive placebo oral intervention and a 1g intravenous paracetamol formulation. The other 50 patients will receive 1g oral paracetamol and IV normal saline. Patients will be requested to chart their pain prior to analgesia and then at 15 minute intervals for the first hour and half hourly for the following 3 hours. Side effects, length of ED stay and patient satisfaction will also be recorded to assess the secondary objectives.