Orthopedic outcomes registry software for joint, spine and sports surgery

An orthopedic outcomes registry has two kinds of data that rarely sit in the same system. The first is the procedure record: who operated, on which side and joint, the indication, the surgical approach, the implant and its fixation, the anesthesia type and operative date. The second is the patient’s own account of recovery: pain, function and quality of life before surgery and at regular intervals afterwards. Registries are valuable because they link the two, so that a change in function can be read against what was done.

In Capture, the procedure is a site eCRF form completed by clinic staff, with typed fields and edit checks (for example, a range check on operative date relative to enrollment, or a required side field). The patient-reported part is a set of ePRO tasks tied to the same participant record. Because both live in the same study, a single export produces one dataset. Each form is built by you from your registry protocol, and the AI study builder can draft the schedule and forms from a protocol document for human review.

Orthopedic registries also record events that happen long after the index operation. Revision, re-operation, deep infection, dislocation, fracture or readmission are usually dated events. Build a repeating event form with the event type, date, laterality and notes so that the timeline for each participant can be reconstructed. Serious events can use the SAE report form structure and the adverse event form where your protocol treats them as safety events, while the protocol deviation tracking page may help where follow-up departs from plan.

Orthopedic registries commonly pair a joint-specific measure with a general health measure and a pain score. Capture has template pages showing the structure of several, including KOOS and Harris hip score structure, the Oswestry Disability Index for spine, EQ-5D and a numeric pain rating scale. For function testing at the clinic, the 6-minute walk test and SPPB and grip strength templates give the structure of site-completed tests. These pages describe structure only. Many of these instruments are licensed or have conditions of use, and you remain responsible for permissions; Capture does not supply or verify instruments.

Participants receive each questionnaire as a secure link in the phone browser, with reminders and a completion window. Before surgery the patient is in the clinic and the task can be completed on the spot; after surgery the link and reminder carry the load. A registry should plan for follow-up loss, which in arthroplasty programs commonly rises over time, so show the overdue list to staff and decide in advance what contact attempts are made. See ePRO compliance reminders for the reminder structure.

Think about the unit of analysis early. If the same patient has both knees replaced, will each side be a separate record or two procedures under one participant? Whatever your protocol decides, build it into the forms so laterality is explicit and the event timeline stays unambiguous. For rehabilitation protocols that follow surgery, clinical trial software for rehabilitation research is relevant, and for surgeon-led trials of new devices EDC for medical device clinical trials describes the design.

Orthopedic registries typically span several hospitals or surgeons. Capture supports QR-code enrollment (site-specific or study-specific), site-level participant numbering such as 001-0042, a separate site coordinator portal and by-site data filtering and exports. The multi-site clinical trial management page describes the model. Patient names are visible to coordinators where the protocol requires, and coded IDs appear for researchers.

Data quality is built in at entry. Edit checks can raise an auto-query when a site enters a value outside a rule, and the field-level audit trail records timestamp, user, old value, new value and reason for every change. This matters for registries because corrections arrive months later, for example when an implant record is clarified. The query management page describes the query workflow.

Exports come as wide CSV or Excel with an automatic data dictionary, filtered by site or date. The export to R, SAS and SPSS page shows common analysis paths. Statistical decisions such as case-mix adjustment, handling of bilateral procedures and the definition of revision-free survival belong in your analysis plan; for a survival-type endpoint, the survival sample size calculator can help with planning.