Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"

The purpose of this study was to observe the relationship between the changes of circulating extracellular vesicles and disease development and outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury, and to find early serum markers and potential intervention targets for disease monitoring in patients with traumatic brain injury. In addition, explore the source of extracellular vesicles as much as possible to prepare for subsequent basic experiments.

This study will assess the benefits of using mobile health system designed for individuals with chronic and complex health conditions (such as those with Spinal Cord Injury,Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, and Traumatic Brain Injury) to improve their wellness and self-management skills compared to those who receive standard of care only.

The FBRI VTC Neuromotor Research Clinic was established and opened in May of 2013 to provide intensive therapeutic services to individuals with motor impairment secondary to neuromotor disorders. It is direct by Dr. Stephanie DeLuca and based on the principles surrounding ACQUIREc Therapy. ACQUIREc Therapy is an evidenced-based approach to pediatric constraint-induced movement therapy, which refers to a multi-component form of therapy that is focused on helping children who have asymmetric motor abilities between the two sides of the body. Historically, ACQUIREc Therapy has the unimpaired or less impaired upper extremity constrained (by a cast or a splint) while also receiving active therapy from a specially trained therapist who shapes new skills and functional activities with the child's more impaired upper extremity but who is also a licensed Occupational or Physical Therapist (OT/PT). Therapy dosages are high much higher than tradition OT or PT - often lasting many hours per day, up to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 2-4 weeks. Investigators have developed further treatments based on the same principles of intensive services combined with behavior shaping for other areas of the body that are also affected by weakness (e.g., the leg and trunk) also, but which usually do not involve constraint. These have been more generally labeled ACQUIRE Therapy. All forms involve intensive, play-based therapy for children with asymmetric motor impairments of the arms and hands. The primary focus of treatment is to facilitate the acquisition of new motor skills in the child's weaker body parts through high levels of intensive therapy using scientifically-based behavioral guidelines. Therapy is also delivered in naturalistic environments. ACQUIREc Therapy as a treatment method has been tested in two randomized controlled trials, and a specific manual for its implementation has been developed. Dr. (s) Ramey and DeLuca previously founded a similar clinic, The Pediatric Neuromotor Research Clinic, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where Dr. DeLuca directed the research clinic for 13 years and oversaw the implementation of the ACQUIREc Therapy treatment protocol in more than 400 cases. This research will involve analyzing and interpreting the clinical data of children going through clinical procedures at the FBRI VTC Neuromotor Research Clinic. All participation is voluntary and no children will denied services if families choose not to participate.

The overall objective is to evaluate objective dual-task turning measures for use as rehabilitative outcomes and as tools for return-to-duty assessments in individuals with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).This project consists of three goals examining the I) Diagnostic Accuracy, II) Predictive Capacity, and III) Responsiveness to Intervention of dual task turning measures in individuals with mTBI. The investigators hypothesize that objective measures of dual-task turning will have high diagnostic accuracy, predictive capacity, and responsiveness to intervention in people with mTBI.

In this study, investigators look at a different type of technology that might help to avoid having to perform CT scans in certain patients suspected of having a head injury. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) uses a specific light wavelength to determine if there is bleeding into the head as a result of trauma. Investigators will study NIRS, using a device called the Infrascanner model 2000, to determine if it is as good at detecting bleeding in the head as CT scan, which is the current gold standard. Investigators will try to determine if NIRS can rule in or rule out bleeding into the head, and perhaps this can help to avoid subjecting these youth to the potentially harmful effects of radiation. Investigators will also study how easy it is to use NIRS so that it might become a standard part of the workup for children with suspected head injury.

Investigators will determine the long-lasting effects of post-acute rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury and stroke. Investigators will also evaluate if the beneficial effects of rehabilitation continue after discharge from a rehabilitative program.

This grant award entitled, "Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Oxygen Metabolism as Markers for Neurodegeneration after Traumatic Brain Injury" (hereafter, "Neurovascular Study"), aims to determine if neurovascular contributors to neurodegeneration can serve as markers of the emergence or progression of degenerative processes after traumatic brain injury in middle-aged and older adults.

This trial will study the safety and efficacy of intravenous infusion of cultured allogeneic adult umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of traumatic brain injury

Neurogenic dysphagia occurs with disruption of neurological systems or processes involved in the execution of coordinated and safe swallowing. It is common in patients with neurological diseases, in particular in patients treated in Intensive Care Units (ICU) who are intubated (up to 62%) and / or tracheotomised (up to 83%). Dysphagia is one of the most common and most dangerous symptoms of many neurological diseases. In addition, neurogenic dysphagia can have a significant impact on quality of life, medication efficacy, and malnutrition. Dysphagia is currently treated conservatively on evidence-based exercises, individually adapted to each patient. In the recent years pharyngeal electrostimulation has been established and shown a positive impact on outcome. In fact, this type of therapy has not only become an addition to the existing therapy, but an important alternative for patients difficult to treat by other means. The Phagenyx® is a medical device, which has lately been used more frequently in multiple hospitals for treatment of neurogenic dysphagia. For nearly two decades pharyngeal electrostimulation has been further developed and optimised. This therapy initiates changes in the swallowing motor cortex through neuroplasticity as well as local changes in peripheral sensory architecture associated with swallowing. Bath and colleagues (2020) recently reported the efficacy of pharyngeal electrostimulation (Phagenyx®) in various neurological conditions. As a result, of current published studies, the use of pharyngeal electrostimulation probe, in selected patients, with neurological diseases with moderate to severe neurogenic dysphagia will be evaluated. This trial will initially start as quality assurance project with the aim to extent it into a monocentric based register study. The Investigators aim to validate the effectiveness of pharyngeal electrostimulation for the treatment of moderate to severe neurogenic dysphagia by systematically recording specific dysphagia-relevant parameters. At present, it is still uncertain to what extent patients with neurogenic dysphagia in the context of a non-acute neurological disease could benefit from this method. The research questions: Does the use of the pharyngeal electrostimulation probe have an influence on the outcome of dysphagia in patients with moderate to severe neurogenic dysphagia? How long after therapy, can the use of the pharyngeal electrostimulation probe lead to oral food intake and/or removal of a tracheal cannula?

Trauma is the leading cause of death and disability in children in the United States. The objective of this study is to evaluate the benefits and harms of tranexamic acid (TXA; a drug that stops bleeding) in severely injured children with hemorrhagic brain and/or torso injuries. Using thromboelastography, we will measure baseline fibrinolysis to assess for treatment effects of TXA at different levels of fibrinolysis.