£2.3M NIHR Grant to Newcastle Surgeon for Major Study on Life-Saving Treatments for Acute Limb Ischaemia

Sandip Nandhra

Sandip Nandhra, a Newcastle Health Research Partnership Senior Clinical Fellow / Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has been awarded up to £2.3 million of funding from the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme. The project will assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of endovascular strategy compared to surgical strategy for the treatment of acute limb ischaemia. 

Acute limb ischaemia (ALI) is a common emergency condition where the arteries supplying blood to the legs suddenly become blocked due to an embolus or thrombus. Without blood to the legs the nerves, muscles, and skin die within hours, leading to amputation or death. ALI is one of the most common causes of amputation in the NHS. 

In recent years, developments in endovascular procedures for ALI have been used instead of open surgery in the NHS. Endovascular procedures are potentially beneficial as they can be performed through small needle punctures and often under local anaesthetic, in x-ray rooms. However, it is not clear which treatment (open or endovascular surgery) is better at preventing amputations and deaths, or which of these provides value for money for the NHS, which is what Mr Nandhra’s study aims to address.  

Speaking about the importance of this study, Mr Nandhra said “At the moment, the ALI patients are currently under-served, the limb-salvage and survival rate is often poor. They’re often walking and living independently beforehand and then are suddenly left disabled or have a major limb threat.” 

“There’s a technological change and an advantage now, and whilst these devices are safe to use, we currently don’t know how effective they are, clinically or financially. We’ve also got a patient need in that they are a high-risk group of patients who haven’t really had any attention or development in their care for decades. So, this is about levelling that playing field for the ALI patient.”  

The study is being run across the UK, with a co-investigator from Leicester University, Prof Athanasios Saratzis and supported by the Centre for Healthcare Randomised Trials (CHaRT), Aberdeen.  

Newcastle Health Research Partnership (NHRP) Academy 

Mr Nandhra is a Newcastle Health Research Partnership Senior Clinical Fellow and NHRP Academy’s Academic Surgery Lead. The funded academic time afforded during the NHRP Fellowship allowed Mr Nandhra to develop the application and team. The NHRP Academy supported Mr Nandhra with the critical review of his HTA application, as well as providing advice on patient and public engagement, clinical impact and dissemination.  

Prof Dave Jones, Director of NHRP Academy, said “I am absolutely delighted about Sandip’s success in being awarded this highly prestigious HTA grant. He is an outstanding emerging leader in surgery and, as this grant reflects, he really cares about his patients. It is also another success for the Newcastle Health Research Partnership Fellowship programme. This supports new clinical academic consultants such as Sandip to develop their ideas, put them into practice and to further their careers. Clinical Academia is “live and well” provided we really support the brightest people.” 

NHRP is one of eight Academic Health Science Centres (AHSCs) across the UK, bringing together partners to translate cutting-edge research into excellent patient care and support world-class training and education with a focus on public partnerships.