Active clinical trials for "Phantom Limb"

In this study we will examine assess if treatment with transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) improve the analgesic effects of mirror therapy for patients with phantom pain of lower extremity. The study will include 3 arms: only mirror therapy, mirror therapy + sham tDCS, and mirror therapy + active tDCS.

Phantom limb pain occurs in the majority of people who lose a limb. It significantly affects quality of life and is hard to manage. Recent evidence suggests that mirror therapy and similar techniques that create a visual representation of the missing limb under the control of the patient may reduce phantom limb pain. The investigators previously explored the use of a virtual reality environment for this purpose with people with upper limb loss but found that using it within the clinical setting limited its potential efficacy. Phantom limb pain is highly variable and assessing the effects of the activity during a hospital appointment when the phantom pain may not be present, or may not be problematic, made it difficult to judge the effects adequately. This study involves training the patient in the clinic to use a portable, self-contained virtual reality system which they will then use at home, unsupervised, for 2 months. The aim is to discover whether phantom limb pain intensity decreases by performing an activity in a virtual reality environment in which a visual representation of the missing limb is controlled by the patient. Participants will be directed to use the system every day, and whenever their phantom limb pain is present and problematic.

The purpose of this study is to identify the best treatment sequence and combination of acupuncture points for the treatment of phantom limb or residual limb pain in the traumatic/surgical amputee.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of cortical stimulation (CS) as an adjunctive treatment for chronic neuropathic pain.

Assessment of pain intensity on the NRS. Assessment of the quality of life by SF-36 and AIS. Diagnostic/prognostic nerve block with 5 ml of 2% lidocaine under real-time ultrasound control with confirmation of the correct position of the needle using a peripheral nerve stimulator. Reassessment of pain intensity on the NRS 30 minutes after local anesthetic block. Cryoablation under real-time ultrasound control if the NRS value is reduced by ≥ 2 points. If pain intensity on the NRS reduced by less than 2 points, reassessment 60 minutes after local anesthetic block. Cryoablation under real-time ultrasound control if the NRS value is reduced by ≥ 2 points. If pain intensity on the NRS reduces by less than 2 points 60 minutes after local anesthetic block cryoablation will not be performed. Cryoablation effect will be evaluated 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months post procedure. 24 hours after the procedure - assessment of pain intensity and quality of life 7 days after the procedure - assessment of pain intensity 30 days after the procedure - assessment of pain intensity and quality of life 3 months after the procedure - assessment of pain intensity 6 months after the procedure - assessment of pain intensity and quality of

AIM: To provide initial information on the efficacy (pain reduction) and safety of focused ultrasound surgery for the ablation of stump neuromas in amputees with chronic neuropathic pain. PARTICIPANTS: The study will include 10 amputees (men/women age >18 years old) with chronic (>3 months) phantom/residual limb pain (NPS ≥ 4). DESIGN: Patients potentially qualifying for the study will be offered an Informed Consent to sign prior to further evaluation. Those who accept will sign the informed consent, complete study questionnaires and be evaluated in terms of inclusion/exclusion criteria. Specifically, a complete medical history will be obtained to determine the patient's general health status, current symptoms, frequency and dosage of their current analgesic intake etc. Baseline pain scores will be established. If not performed within six months prior to the evaluation, a contrast MRI of the stump will be performed. Patients not meeting the study criteria will be exited from the study as screen failures and not be included in analyses. All qualifying patients will complete a baseline MRI exam on treatment day. Any patient not meeting study criteria at Imaging will be exited as screen failures. After completion of the MRI exam, qualifying patients will proceed to the ExAblate treatment. These patients will then be followed for 6-months post-ExAblate treatment; the patients will complete study follow-up questionnaires at 1, 3 days, 1 and 2 weeks, and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatments. Follow-up visits will take place 1 week and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment to assess their pain status, their quality of life and safety. Data regarding dosage and frequency of analgesic intake for the management of post amputation NP will be collected. Relevant cost data will be collected in order to enable an assessment of the total cost of the procedure.

The primary goals of this pilot research project are a) to design and develop the a mixed reality based system for managing phantom pain and b) to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary functional outcomes of this system in a sample of patients with lower limb amputation. Findings from this pilot study will serve as preliminary data to inform regarding a fully powered clinical trial to determine the effectiveness and practical implementation of these findings in real-world settings. Aim1: Design and develop a feasible mixed reality based system to manage phantom pain in patients with lower limb amputation qualifying for on-going mirror therapy. Hypothesis 1: The investigators hypothesize that the mixed reality based system to manage phantom pain will be feasible and well-received by a sample of patients with lower limb amputation needing mirror therapy. Aim2: Evaluate functional outcomes in a sample of lower limb amputees (n=10), using this mixed reality based system to manage phantom pain. Hypothesis 2: Using this system, the investigators hypothesize that patients who participate in the mixed reality based system will show improvements in functional mobility based on performance evaluations and patient reported outcome measures (PROs). The investigators also hypothesize that this mixed reality based system will help to alleviate the phantom pain based on McGill Pain questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS).

Phantom and residual limb pain are types of peripheral neuropathic pain that are difficult to treat and where the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the motor cortex is an increasingly studied technique for the treatment of neuropathic pain and has shown modest effects in pain intensity reduction for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Newer rTMS coils provide the opportunity to stimulate larger brain areas, which could provide a better treatment option compared to conventional coils. The aims of this study are to investigate whether the peripheral nervous system is a necessary driver of phantom limb pain and/or residual limb pain in patients with lower limb amputation using spinal anaesthesia, and to assess the analgesic efficacy of deep H-coil rTMS compared to sham stimulation in the same patients.

Neuropathic pain is common in limb amputees and causes reductions in activity and participation as well as impaired quality of life. Some of these pains lead to the diagnosis of a responsible lesion and to precise and effective treatments (amputation neuroma pains, for example), whether they are etiological or symptomatic. Other pains of a neuropathic character remain totally or partially resistant to symptomatic treatment. Their appearance, intensity, duration and frequency vary depending on the amputee. Old scientific data confirmed by modern imagery indicates a process of reorganization of cortical areas by multimodal afferents. This reconstruction, coherent or not of the body diagram, is at the genesis of sensations, normal or not, in the amputee. Early plurimodal reassignment constitutes the founding principle of the rehabilitation of amputees: tactile afferents, visual afferents, motor afferents, proprioceptive afferents. Rehabilitation techniques and early fitting contribute to this reafferentation and to the functional integration of the fitting and to the quality of life of the amputee. Scientific work by Katz et al, and experiences of amputees relieved by the application of local heat or stay in hot climatic zones show that the thermoregulation of the residual limb could be of interest. It has been shown that these pain conditions are often related to a reduction in superficial blood flow to the distal part of the stump. The physiological response of the body to variations in outside temperature physiologically consists in the regulation of skin temperature. The goal seems to keep the body in a so-called "thermal neutrality" zone, substantially between 30 ° C and 33 ° C, by vasodilation or vasoconstriction of the superficial blood vessels depending on exposure to cold or heat. An innovative medical device has been developed for a regulated thermal re-afferentation of the residual limb, during and outside the wearing of the prosthesis. The Connected Caloprosthesis Kit (CCK®) includes a connected sleeve put in place when wearing the prosthesis (interface between the skin and the socket) and a connected sock to put in place outside of wearing the prosthesis. These 2 devices include an autonomous heating and regulation process, which maintains the amputation stump in the area known as "skin thermal normality". This device is non-invasive. It includes a silicone sleeve and a heating sock for femoral or tibial amputee patients equipped with an expandable textile warmer, a flexible micro-temperature sensor and a 4-conductor extensible cable connected to a thermoregulation box worn as a belt which regulates the temperature of the stumps in the thermal neutrality zone between 30 and 33°C. In order to assess the therapeutic effect of CCK®, given the heterogeneity of the population and the small number of patients eligible for the study, the Single Case Experimental Design (multiple baselines design) seems to us to be the methodology the most suitable: the principle is to evaluate intensively and prospectively a small group of subjects, each case being its own comparator. The methodology is defined a priori including systematic observations and repeated measurements at a defined frequency before, during, or even after the intervention introduced in a sequential and randomized manner. The data analysis can be individual and therefore patient-specific, but also group with the calculation of the size of the therapeutic effect and the calculation of significance. This design therefore makes it possible to overcome the difficulties encountered during randomized controlled trials: having to have a large number of subjects necessary to show a significant difference in the medical device and to have a homogeneous population. This methodology is therefore not a description of a clinical case but an alternative methodology to randomized controlled trials. In fact, it is considered by the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine 2011 to be level I, like the randomized controlled trials. The proposed clinical study therefore has a dual objective: practical as a new treatment therapy by validating this medical device and theoretical, supporting the pathogenic model of painful sensations in amputees

The aim of the study is the measurement of the short term effect of post surgical mirror therapy concerning pain intensity and frequency of patients with upper or lower amputation in comparison to standard occupational or physical therapy. The hypothesis is that patients in the intervention group (mirror therapy) suffer significantly less from phantom limb pain and pain attacks within a follow-up period of 4-8 weeks.