Active clinical trials for "Spinal Cord Injuries"

Muscle atrophy may occur in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) as a result of diminished physical activity and alterations in glucose metabolism and body composition may be seen. In a few studies, it has been suggested that spasticity may have a positive impact on glucose metabolism by preventing muscle atrophy and alterations in body composition in individuals with motor complete SCI. Investigators aimed to assess the effects of spasticity on glucose metabolism and body composition in participants with complete and incomplete SCI.

Patients with spinal cord injury have a high prevalence of osteoporosis due to chronic skeletal unloading. Recently, various treatment drugs for osteoporosis have been developed. In particular, romosozumab, a sclerostin inhibitor, has been reported to have a high therapeutic effect as an inhibitor of bone resorption while promoting bone formation. However, there are a few research concerning sclerostin of spinal cord injuries patients. Therefore we want to analyze the change of sclerostin as well as factors indicating bone formation and absorption marker in spinal cord injury patient.

The main aim of this study is to gain an in-depth knowledge of cardiopulmonary and autonomic health consequences, and related risk factors among people with long-term high-level spinal cord injury. The result of this study will form the basis for further research to improve prevention strategies and risk prediction of cardiopulmonary disorders in people with spinal cord injury.

Functional Electrical Stimulation is an established technique in which small electrical impulses are used to cause a contraction in muscles and thereby enable movement, in people with neurological or musculoskeletal problems who are unable to undertake those movements themselves. People with spinal cord injuries of the neck at C5, C6 and C7 account for 35% of all spinal cord injuries. Despite this, there is only one commercial FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) based orthosis currently available. Even that has limitations in that it as it has a single size rigid exoskeleton it does not fit all people who could benefit and also due to its rigidity it does not allow people with lower injuries to utilise any remaining tenodesis grip. As a result, it is not widely used within the spinal injured communities. Therefore what is required is a more flexible system that can benefit a larger number of people whilst still being affordable within the constraints of the NHS. A previous INSPIRE funded project, TETRAGRIP I demonstrated that a surface FES system controlled by an inertial sensor, measuring movement of the opposite shoulder, could meet this specification and was successfully tried on two people with tetraplegia. What is now required is a more detailed study in which the principle components of that system are incorporated into a practical device suitable for use at home without clinical supervision. It is therefore proposed to develop and build such a system and to conduct extended home based trials in three people with tetraplegia.

To better depict the full range of spasticity after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) there is a need to take into account the patients perspective and their experiences during daily life. In 2007 the Spinal Cord Injury-Spasticity Evaluation Tool (SCI-SET) was created and validated. This specific questionnaire addresses the influence of spasticity on the daily life of SCI patients and takes into account negative as well as positive effects of spasticity to fulfill certain tasks. Until now this questionnaire is only available in english, turkish and persian language. Therefore, the investigators translated and culturally adapted this questionnaire and within this study this questionnaire shall be validated in a small cohort of SCI patients. The patients will fill in several different questionnaires at a first meeting and one week later the SCI-SETde questionnaire again to evaluate test-retest properties. Recruiting will happen completely at the Swiss Paraplegic Centre Nottwil, Switzerland.

16 persons affected by Cervical-SCI were recruited for the study and randomly assigned to the Control Group (CG) or to the Experimental Group (EG). Persons of the CG (n = 8) executed 20 sessions of FES for the rehabilitation of hand functions (grasp or pinch), participants of the EG (n = 8) performed 20 sessions of FES and CBA in addition. The primary assessment was a modified version of Bimanual Activity Test (10 tasks); also, SCIM-II and measurement of grasping strength only in participants submitted to grasp rehabilitation were evaluated.

The purpose of this clinical study is to allow the investigation of the Neural Bridging System for participants with tetraplegia to assess if the investigational device can reanimate a paralyzed limb under voluntary control by the participant's thoughts.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) reduces anesthetic requirements and stress hormonal responses. Anesthetic requirements and stress hormone response are compared in SCI patients undergoing anesthesia with sevoflurane supplemented with clinically equivalent doses of either N2O or remifentanil.

Active elbow extension has significant functional benefits for individuals with tetraplegia. The proposed work will provide information to assess how effectively people are using their elbow extension tendon transfers, and whether one surgery works more effectively than the other. This study will provide recommendations to clinicians about the possibility of improving function after surgery using rehab techniques.

This study includes male subjects age 45 to 70, who have sustained a traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) at least 10 years prior. Subjects will be interviewed for demographic data, including heart disease risk factors. A blood test for cholesterol levels will be drawn. A CT scan of arteries of the heart will be performed to determine the presence of coronary calcium, a marker of subclinical Coronary Heart Disease. Scoring of Coronary Calcium or Coronary Calcium Score (CCS) is automated by the CT scanner. Each subject's Framingham Risk Score will be calculated; This is an individuals 10 year risk of having a Coronary Heart Disease event (significant symptoms). In addition, it will be determined if subjects are being treated for diagnosed dyslipidemia (high cholesterol) according to the National Cholesterol Educational Program (NCEP) guidelines. The proposed pilot study aims to better understand the problem of Coronary Heart Disease in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury, specifically CCS in SCI, when compared to the general population.