Treadmill Training With Body Weight Support in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury

NCT ID: NCT00061295

Last Updated: 2005-06-24

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

PHASE1

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

1999-03-31

Study Completion Date

2004-02-29

Brief Summary

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Body weight support (BWS) treadmill training uses an overhead harness to give partial support to patients walking on a treadmill. This study will determine whether BWS training is more effective than conventional rehabilitation therapy in improving walking ability in patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI).

Detailed Description

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Gait rehabilitation is a specific component of physical rehabilitation of persons with sub-acute or chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). One novel method of gait rehabilitation involves the use of an overhead support point and a harness. The BWS strategy has been combined with treadmill-based gait training in recent studies with dramatic results. It is believed that this form of training may enhance output of a 'central pattern generator' of stepping movement from circuitry intrinsic to the patient's spinal cord. However, only limited attention has been paid to the role that training-induced physical conditioning might play in mediating functional improvements.

This study will evaluate whether BWS gait training is more effective than conventional rehabilitation therapy in improving functional gait in patients with neurologically incomplete spinal cord injury. The study will also compare treadmill-based training to overground-based training. Treadmill-based training has the inherent advantage of providing highly rhythmic input to the subject's legs; overground-based training has the inherent advantage of allowing use of assistive devices and thereby replicating a more 'natural' training condition.

Patients with chronic SCI (greater than 1 year post-injury) and patients with sub-acute SCI (2 to 8 months post-injury) will be evaluated. Patients with chronic SCI will be randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: body weight support and treadmill-based training, body weight support and overground training, and conventional rehabilitation therapy. Patients with sub-acute injury will be randomized to receive either BWS treadmill training or conventional rehabilitation. Training sessions are typically 1 hour long, with 3 sessions per week for 13 weeks.

All patients will be evaluated with a battery of functional, metabolic, and neurophysiologic measures prior to the onset of training and during the week after training has been completed. The primary outcome measure will be average maximum overground walking velocity without body weight support but with the use of passive assistive devices. Secondary measures will concentrate on function (balance, mobility), fitness (work capacity, strength, gait efficiency), and spinal cord neurophysiology (motor conduction, reflex excitability).

Conditions

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Spinal Cord Injury

Keywords

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Locomotion Spinal Cord Injury Body Weight Supported Walking

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

FACTORIAL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Interventions

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Body weight support treadmill training

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Spinal cord injury at or above the T10 spine
* 1 year post injury
* Some volitional movement in one or both limbs (i.e., motor incomplete)
* Ability to stand with limited bracing
* Ability to rise from sit to stand with no more that moderate assistance


* Spinal cord injury at or above the T10 spine
* 2 to 8 months post injury
* Volitional movement in at least one lower limb muscle (i.e., motor incomplete), although may not be capable of unsupported standing or moving from sit-to-stand without maximal assistance

Exclusion Criteria

* Fractures at or below T11
* Neoplastic, degenerative, or vascular disorders of the spine or spinal cord
* Significant orthopaedic conditions that would interfere with regular exercise or rehabilitation therapy
* Decubitus ulcer
* Advanced urinary tract infection
* Medical conditions that increase the probability of having a seizure in response to single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation
Minimum Eligible Age

16 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

70 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

NIH

Sponsor Role lead

Principal Investigators

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Blair M. Calancie

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

Locations

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Upstate Medical University

Miami, Florida, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Blair M. Calancie

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 305-585-8347

Email: [email protected]

Other Identifiers

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1U01HD037460-01

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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