Active clinical trials for "Spinal Cord Injuries"

The purpose of this research study is to learn more about the causes of gastrointestinal dysfunction after spinal cord injury. It has been thought that the microbiome (the community of bacteria in the body) may be one such cause. The study will examine whether changes in the distal gut microbiome are related to gastrointestinal dysfunction in persons with Spinal Cord Injury and Non-Disabled Controls.

Two questionnaires (Qualiveen full version and Qualiveen short-form (SF)), the project information and the consent form will be sent to individuals who are scheduled for an annual control at the urological out-patient clinic of the Swiss Paraplegic Centre and who fulfill the inclusion criteria. The patients will be asked to complete the two questionnaires and to bring the completed questionnaires and the signed consent form to the annual control at the Swiss Paraplegic Centre. Participants who have consented and completed the two questionnaires will receive the two questionnaires a second time 14 days later. The primary objective of this project is to validate the German version of the SF Qualiveen questionnaire. The secondary objective is to evaluate the measurement properties of the German SF Qualiveen questionnaire in comparison with the full version.

This study is expanded access to an Investigational New Drug (IND) for an individual patient with spinal cord injury (SCI) at cervical spine 5-6 (C 5-6) designed to provide access to autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HB-adMSCs)

The purpose of this study is to determine if the use of the Prevena™ System decreases the rate of subcutaneous seroma, superficial wound dehiscence and infection.

The exact innervation of the bladder and the changes after a spinal cord injury have been not yet been illustrated. Diffusion tensor imaging with magnetic resonance imaging is a new technique which can be used to visualize single nerve fibers, and thus represent the neural supply of a region in vivo. There are studies in which both the sacral plexus and the lumbar nerve roots have been represented using diffusion tensor imaging. However, there is no study concerning the innervation of the bladder. The investigators are therefore using diffusion tensor imaging with magnetic resonance imaging to represent the bladder innervation of individuals with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction and individuals with normal bladder function.

After spinal cord injury, patients develop a spastic syndrome that is characterized by hyperactive reflexes, increased muscle tone, clonus and involuntary muscle spasms. The neuronal mechanisms behind the development of spasticity remain largely unknown, though animal experiments have shown that changes occur both at the level of the motoneuron and sensory neurons. This project aims to examine the changes that occur in the modulation of sensory afferent transmission after spinal cord injury, and how these changes can contribute to the triggering and initiation of muscle spasms after chronic spinal cord injury in humans. It is known that after spinal cord injury, the majority of descending sources of monoamines, such as serotonin (5HT), are abolished. Animal experiments have shown that 5HT receptors on sensory neurons in the spinal cord are responsible for inhibiting sensory transmission. As a result, after spinal cord injury these receptors are no longer activated below an injury, resulting in the production of large, long excitatory responses in the motoneuron when sensory are activated. This large sensory activation of the motoneuron can, in turn, activate a long response in the motoneuron to produce an involuntary muscle spasm. The aim of our study is to determine whether, similar to animal experiments, the 5HT1 receptors are responsible for sensory inhibition in spinal cord injured subjects, and whether activating these receptors (through the 5HT1 agonist Zolmitriptan) will restore the normal inhibition of sensory transmission that is lost after injury, thereby resulting in a decrease in the initiation of involuntary muscle spasms.

People with a spinal cord injury (SCI) have limited ability to move and feel sensation below the level of the SCI. Doctors and researchers have tests which determine the level of function and sensation, this test was developed by the American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) and has been modified over the years to improve use and sensitivity. Most recently, the ASIA Injury classification Scale (AIS) was modified in 2011, but this test does not include the evaluation of autonomic nervous system (ANS) impairment. However, people with SCI do have impairment of the ANS and this may adversely affect how organ systems in the body function. Specifically, ANS impairment tends to result in changes in heart rate and blood pressure that may relate to the level of the SCI, but this is not fully understood. In this investigation we hope to develop simple tests which will allow doctors and scientist the ability to measure the amount of ANS impairment to the cardiovascular system, specifically the heart. The first part of the study will be to determine the heart rate response to several tests (administration of drugs and physical challenges) which will change heart rate. These tests will be given to people with and without SCI and the heart rate response will be compared between people with and without SCI. The bigger the difference in the heart rate response to these test between people with and without SCI the greater degree of ANS impairment in the people with SCI. Once this heart rate difference is determined, several simple tests (deep breathing, saliva test, Valsalva) will be performed in people with and without SCI to again compare the heart rate response. The second part of this study will be to determine if the heart rate responses to the first set of tests (administration of drugs and physical challenges) can predict the heart rate response to these simple tests (deep breathing, saliva test, Valsalva). The aim of this study is to develop a simple battery of tests which can be easily used by doctors and scientists to determine the degree of ANS impairment to the heart in persons with SCI.

Severe trauma induces massive metabolic changes that are characterized by hypermetabolism with increased energy expenditure and catabolism. Early enteral and, if necessary, parenteral feeding is a major focus of modern intensive care medicine. After acute spinal cord injury, denervation of skeletal muscle leads to a massive loss of muscle mass in the area below the level of injury. This dramatic muscle atrophy again leads to a decrease in energy expenditure. Whereas other survivors of severe trauma typically regain muscle mass during rehabilitation, spinal cord injury patients typically continue to lose muscle mass over time, which also leads to changes in body composition. The time course of these changes is not known. Continuing nutrition without adaption to the reduced energy expenditure leads to weight gain and adiposity, exposing many chronic spinal cord injury patients to the known unfavorable metabolic consequences. Knowledge of the time course of these changes would help to provide adequate caloric intake to the patients and improve our ability for nutrition counseling. The investigators plan a prospective clinical trial in 25 acute spinal cord injury patients to determine the changes in energy expenditure and body composition. Major inclusion criteria are acute traumatic spinal cord injury, age 18-70, neurological level above L1, AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale) A, B or C. Measurements of energy expenditure, body composition and nutritional markers in venous blood are scheduled 2, 6, 10 and 14 weeks after spinal cord injury and at the end of rehabilitation (at the latest after 26 weeks).

The study aims at discerning specific gait patterns and elucidating locomotor control of spinal cord injured patients in order to find sensitive kinematic and electromyographic outcome measures that are able to reveal information on underlying mechanisms of normal and aberrant gait control and its recovery over time. These measures may also be used to compare the outcome across different neurological disorders.

The field of spinal cord injury rehabilitation medicine lacks a reliable, patient reported, health-related quality of life measurement tool. The National Institute of Health has provided funding to develop a spinal cord injury-specific, quality of life survey tool in non-Veterans with spinal cord injury called the spinal cord injury-quality of life (SCI-QOL). This quality of life survey asks questions regarding physical/medical, emotional, and social health as it relates to individuals with spinal cord injury. The purpose of this study is to include a Veteran population in the making of the quality of life survey. Each participant will be asked to complete a packet of quality of life questions. Participants will be given the opportunity to take the survey a second time, either 7-14 days or 5-7 months after the first survey. Taking the survey twice will allow the research team to test the reliability of the survey. Comparing the SCI-QOL with other legacy measures will allow the investigators to test the validity of the survey. Additionally, the investigators will be testing the SCI-QOL between Veterans and non-Veterans with SCI to determine if there are differences in their self-reported quality of life. This study will be recruiting participants at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York and the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Hospital, Tampa, Florida.