Active clinical trials for "Spinal Cord Injuries"

The objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of a collaborative care approach to improving outpatient treatment for inactivity, chronic pain and depression as a way of improving overall Quality of Life for patients with SCI.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether KAI-1678 is effective in the treatment of pain associated with spinal cord injury.

A number of studies suggest that training to increase different types of brain waves is related to pain relief. The purpose of the second phase of this study is to see if neurofeedback training might help people with chronic pain control their pain better. The information from the study may help the investigators treat chronic pain better in the future.

Individuals with spinal cord injury sustain significant loss of bone mass in their lower extremities (20-40% or more). This study evaluates the ability of PTH and weight-bearing, two interventions that build bone, to increase bone mass in this population.

To investigate the feasibility, safety, efficacy and optimal dose of umbilical cord blood mononuclear cell transplant in the treatment of chronic spinal cord injuries.

BAY 38-9456 10 mg and 20 mg can be given as safe and efficacious medications to patients with spinal cord injury suffering from erectile dysfunction, and that erectile dysfunction can be improved by uptitration to BAY 38-9456 20 mg when the treatment with 10 mg is not sufficiently effective

After a spinal cord injury the brain is no longer completely in control of the body below the level of injury. This affects many organs and systems in the body, we are interested in understanding how a spinal cord injury affects blood pressure and blood flow to the brain. We are going to study blood pressure while the person is seated in a wheelchair before and after we give the subject medications which should increase blood pressure in a laboratory setting and over the course of a normal day in persons with spinal cord injury.

Depression is likely the most prevalent and disabling psychological complication associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). Yet no controlled depression treatment trials have been performed in this population. The proposed study is a multi-site, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial of venlafaxine XR (Effexor XR) in 133 adults with SCI and major depressive disorder (MDD) or dysthymia who are at least one month post injury. Participants will be recruited from four SCI Model System sites, the University of Washington, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Alabama, Birmingham and Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, Dallas, TX. The purpose of the study is to examine the efficacy and tolerability of venlafaxine XR as a treatment for MDD. The primary outcome will be the percent of responders (those who report at least a 50% reduction in depression severity from baseline to the end of treatment) in the venlafaxine XR versus placebo control group using intent-to-treat analysis. Secondary outcomes will include changes in pain, health related quality of life depression-related disability and community participation. A successful clinical trial could lead to more aggressive identification and treatment of MDD as well as improved health and quality of life in this important population.

Acupuncture has been used with good results for many years at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Lyndhurst Centre (Toronto, ON, Canada), Parkwood Hospital (London, ON, Canada) and GF Strong Rehabilitation Institute (Vancouver, BC, Canada) to reduce burning pain in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). This multi-centre RCT will test an acupuncture protocol for treatment of burning pain in 40 people with burning pain in SCI, using a sham acupuncture protocol as the control. Objectives of Study: To determine the feasibility of conducting a real acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture trial in a multi-centre study using the Lyndhurst Central Neuropathic Pain Acupuncture Protocol (LCCNPAP). This will inform a larger study which will directly evaluate the effect of the LCCNPAP on pain and Quality of Life (QOL) in individuals with SCI. To determine which outcome measures are most responsive and the amount of change that could be expected, with respect to pain and QOL, for the larger study. To obtain preliminary data to determine subject numbers for future studies evaluating the effect of the acupuncture protocol.

As clinicians, it is often a struggle to find effective pain control for a certain subgroup of patients with tetraplegia. These patients often have severe upper back, neck, and shoulder pain, limiting rehabilitation productivity and potential, and always limiting quality of life. This pain appears to be primarily musculoskeletal. Muscles in the upper back and neck become shortened, rock hard, and extremely tender with even the slightest touch or stretch. Refractory to multiple classes of medications, modalities, and other treatments, patients truly suffer-not only from pain, but from fatigue, sedation, expense, and loss of useful rehabilitation time due to attempted remedies. Unfortunately, this subgroup of patients is not small and the problem is significant, as anyone who specializes in the treatment of spinal cord injury patients will recognize. In search for another form of treatment, botulinum toxin A (BTXA) may be promising for pain control in that group of patients with tetraplegia whose pain has proven to be refractory to treatment. It did not take long searching the literature to find compelling evidence that BTXA may have another mechanism of action for direct pain control, apart from its well known mechanism for spasticity control. Clinically, it is increasingly being recommended and used for this purpose. In fact, one of the specific indications now recognized by most for BTXA treatment is for myogenic pain due to short, tight, strained muscles-just as we see with our population. Yet, it's application has not been studied in people with tetraplegia. Thus, the genesis of the project and the hope to help our patients evolved. Study hypotheses: In addition to traditional treatments used for pain control, injection of BTXA into cervical and upper back muscles will effectively reduce cervical/shoulder pain severity reported by individuals with cervical spinal cord injuries, regardless of the etiology of pain. Pain reduction secondary to the use of BTXA will be associated with a decrease in total analgesic medication use among SCI patients during acute inpatient rehabilitation. BTXA to treat cervical/shoulder pain will increase active participation in the rehabilitation program for individuals with tetraplegia during inpatient rehabilitation.