Active clinical trials for "Neuralgia"

Neurotoxic chemotherapy, including oxaliplatin, are responsible for very disabling neuropathic pain that can last for months or even years after the end of chemotherapy. Currently, there is no effective neuroprotective treatment to prevent or relieve this pain. The only strategy is the reduction of oxaliplatin doses or premature discontinuation of therapy, with the risk of burdening the prognosis for remission. Thus, a better understanding of the pathophysiology of these iatrogenic neuropathies appears necessary in order to discover new potential therapeutic targets. Preclinical works were able to demonstrate important metabolic changes in certain brain structures in an animal model of oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy. A significant increase of choline concentration has been found in the posterior insular cortex of neuropathic animals compared with control animals. Furthermore, the concentrations of choline were positively correlated to nociceptive thresholds. Thus, neuropathic pain induced by oxaliplatin would involve the posterior insular cortex and would be associated with an increase in choline concentration at this level. Clinical translation of these preclinical results is feasible in practice since choline concentration can be determined in the brain by non-invasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Neuropathic or nerve injury related pain (NP), an extremely unpleasant condition that is difficult to treat, often has a severe, persistent, and unremitting course. Conventional treatments are often ineffective in relieving NP. Recently, the investigators have developed a cost-efficient regimen involving use of low dose infusions of ketamine for treating neuropathic pain in patients in whom oral medications have failed. We have observed excellent benefits in many of these patients. However, this treatment requires titration and monitoring during the infusion and currently it is not possible to predict which patients will benefit from this intervention. The investigators have shown that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain can be used as a tool to predict relief of pain and to assess the effect of treatment in some chronic pain conditions. This innovative project involves development of an fMRI-guided treatment with intravenous ketamine in patients with NP. This study aims to analyze patterns of changes in fMRI of the brain, before and after infusion of ketamine and to correlate the changes with pain intensity. The information from this study will help to deliver this therapy earlier to those patients who are most likely to benefit from ketamine.

Pelvic pain syndromes have a high prevalence of up to 8% in the general population and up to 50% following pelvic trauma and pelvic surgery. While medical management is the initial therapeutic step, it is often ineffective with surgical decompression and resection of the putative nerves being the ultima ratio. Cryoablation can induce long-lasting nerve conduction blocks with resultant pain relief for several months. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of magnetic resonance (MR) neurography-guided cryoanalgesia for the treatment of pelvic and associated pain syndromes.

The goal of this study is to evaluate whether a new spinal cord stimulation paradigm, called Coordinate Reset (CR) Stimulation, can provide equivalent or better pain relief with reduced energy requirements. The investigators will test this new stimulation paradigm in patients who are already undergoing spinal cord stimulation surgery. The investigators will also study whether there are changes in electroencephalography (brain waves) associated with this new stimulation paradigm. The investigators hope to learn whether CR stimulation can provide equivalent or better pain relief with reduced energy requirements. They also hope to learn whether there are changes in brain function with effective CR stimulation compared to conventional stimulation. This study will be testing a specific stimulation paradigm in people who have already consented to have spinal cord stimulation performed for treatment of their chronic pain.

The possible benefits expected from the use of the WALANT procedure are a decrease in intraoperative pain at the surgical site, a decrease in hospitalization time, and a decrease in the time required to lift the anesthesia postoperatively. The risks identified are those inherent to each type of anesthesia (WALANT or traditional ALR), as encountered in current practice, and are therefore not specific to the study: risks related to the local anesthetic agent or risks related to the puncture procedure. The main objective is to determine whether the patient's intraoperative pain at the surgical site is less after a WALANT procedure compared to a traditional ALR procedure (axillary or trunk).

Use lay language. Oxaliplatin is a reference anticancer drug in the treatment of colorectal cancer. However, its use is hampered by a specific neurotoxicity, which is characterized by acute thermal hypersensitivity, notably to cold temperatures, and by chronic neuropathy appearing with the repetition of chemotherapy cycles. To this date there is no effective therapy able to prevent and/or to treat these adverse drug reactions. So oncologists are sometimes strained to decrease anticancer doses or to stop chemotherapy; Previously, a polyamine deficient diet has been able to prevent acute oxaliplatin-induced hypersensitivity in animals. So we hypothesizes that a specific nutritional therapy, a polyamine deprived diet, may prevent acute oxaliplatin-induced hypersensitivity in patients.

Oxaliplatin (Ox) is part of most treatment regimens for colorectal cancer. However, it may induce side effects, such as a specific injury to peripheral nerves called neuropathy. Ox-induced neuropathy is frequently painful. The presence of pain after its administration may hamper the full chemotherapeutic treatment of patients with colorectal cancer receiving this agent. Recently, it has been suggested that the appearance of acute neuropathy after oxaliplatin (Ox) infusion could predict the distal polyneuropathy seen some months after treatment. These two adverse events related to Ox treatment probably share different mechanistic backgrounds. However, recent experimental data suggest that both types of peripheral neuropathies are able to induce central sensitization, a major step to the occurrence of chronic pain. Pregabalin is a molecule used to teat neuropathic pain since it can diminish the peripheral sensitization seen in this painful condition. Recently, it has also been shown that pregabalin can be used to treat neuropathic pain related to Ox treatment. In the present study, we will test the hypothesis that Pregabalin administrated exclusively for three days before and three days after the Ox infusion is able to prevent the occurrence of pain secondary to both the acute and chronic Ox-associated neuropathies. In the classical FLOX chemotherapeutic regimen, Ox is infused in nine sessions during a six-month period. Patients will be followed for a year and nerve conduction tests, quantitative sensory evaluation, pain, quality of life and functional scales will be used to assess the impact of this strategy in the prevention of pain. If this strategy proves to work, this information will have a major impact in the cancer prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer since Ox will be able to administer in its full dose, and will not be limited by neuropathic side effects.

This study is designed to assess: The impact of taking perioperative pregabalin on the incidence of chronic neuropathic pain and postthoracotomy syndrome at 3 months in patients who have undergone a thoracotomy with a thoracic epidural as the basic analgesic modality. The impact of taking perioperative pregabalin on the relief of acute pain, and on the use of additional analgesics, such as opioids, for the relief of such pain in patients who have undergone thoracic surgery with a thoracic epidural as the basic analgesia. The impact of taking perioperative pregabalin on the quality of life and level of functioning of patients who underwent thoracic surgery 3 months earlier. The safety profile of pregabalin in this patient population. Hypothesis: The basic hypothesis in this study is that a dose of pregabalin administered preemptively 1 hour before a thoracotomy, then repeatedly during the postoperative period, when neuronal hyperexcitability is at a maximum (i.e., 4 days), will lead to a 33.3% decrease in the prevalence of chronic pain 3 months after surgery.

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of electric stimulation of the nerves along the intercostal nerves on pain and spasticity in spinal cord injury patients.

Neuropathic pain is a common complaint in those with spinal cord injury (SCI) that has a significant negative effect on quality of life. Efficacy of various treatments, however, remains controversial. There is evidence to support that gabapentin and pregabalin have some benefit in reducing neuropathic pain. Gabapentin is effective in the management of symptoms and concerns related to SCI including motor recovery, spasticity, and mood among others. This makes gabapentin an important pharmacologic intervention, which compels providers to define treatment guidelines related to its use. One aspect of which should relate to the timing of initiation of therapy. The goal of this study is to determine whether timing of initiation of treatment with gabapentin will decrease prevalence and intensity of neuropathic pain.