Conducting a good traumatological study is challenging. In addition to careful planning and implementation, there must be a sufficient number of suitable patients. In terms of patient volumes, none of the Nordic hospitals are large enough to conduct such a large project on their own within a reasonable time. In addition to cultural aspects, the Nordic countries are united by public health care and comprehensive health care registers. For this reason, Nordic cooperation allows for the possibility to carry out more extensive clinical trials.

In 2011, our NITEP research team launched an RCT study that compared surgery and the conservative treatment of the fracture of the upper part of the humerus. We have created a functioning Nordic cooperation network and research infrastructure. In the future, NITEP aims to study the treatment of the most common and economically significant fractures by means of a randomized, advanced research trial (RCT) series.