Evaluation of Nociceptive Processing in the Cervical Region

NCT ID: NCT04242576

Last Updated: 2020-01-27

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

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

54 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-12-20

Study Completion Date

2019-12-30

Brief Summary

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The main objective of this research is to asses the effectivity of action observation therapy, left/right discrimination and therapeutic exercise in the nociceptive processing of the cervical region.

Detailed Description

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Neck pain is the fourth cause of loss of years due to disability, behind back pain, depression and joint pain. Studies show that about half of the population will experience at least one episode of the clinically important neck during their life. The vast majority of studies indicate a prevalence of neck pain that varies between 15% and 50%, including a systematic review with a ratio of 37.2%, the investigators can ensure that neck pain is a common pathology among the population. Among the variables associated with neck pain, besides rheumatology, include genetic, psychopathological variables (such as depression, anxiety, coping skills, somatization), sleep disorders, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle, among others. All those variables alter the nervous system in a proprioceptive level, so that deep and superficial flexor, as well as the rest of the muscles, they do not receive correct information that prevents them from processing properly the obtained information. Therefore, alterations also occur at central nervous system levels as in the processing of pain and its control by inhibitory descending systems.

The most used treatment for neck pain is exercise. In a recent Cochrane review conducted by Gross A. et al., It has been proven, despite the shortage of high-quality studies, that the use of exercise routines based on strength and resistance training causes a reduction in pain.

Motor imagery (MI) or graduated motor imagery (GMI) is defined as "the mental and dynamic process of action, without real movement execution" and the action observation (AO) consists in observing an action carried out by another person. These treatments are based on the ability of the nervous system to assimilate the images seen and process them until they reach the motor cortex, and thanks to the mirror neurons, the painful pattern decreases until it disappears. Thus, visualising a painful situation provokes and evokes in the brain, a painful experience, even when this is not actually happening.

Therefore, the interruption of this neural network of cortical proprioceptive representations and integration of motor processes, also known as "body schema", is particularly relevant for movement and manual therapies. One way to measure the current state of the body scheme is through laterality tasks or "left / right judgement task" (LRJT), which have proven to be an effective and reliable tool and can also be used as a treatment.

All of the above facilitates the possibility of using these tools as treatments focused on the cortical area with GMI. However, the effectiveness of MI is controversial. Some studies have been carried out in pathological patients, in a pilot study they confirmed the changes produced in the neck region, both by an increase in the range of movement and an increase in the pain threshold to pressure, focused on the population with chronic neck pain. It is difficult to find studies in healthy patients, although in recent years some publications on motor imagery can be found finding changes in the descending inhibitory systems of pain and its processing. Many variables such as the duration of the sessions, the time per exercise or the type of tasks to be performed, together with the lack of studies on the neck region and the comparison between different tasks and their respective affectation of the descending pain inhibitory systems, have led us to carry out this study.

Conditions

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Pain, Neck

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

SEQUENTIAL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Investigators
Single blind

Study Groups

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Action Observation

Subjects will watch 30-second videos, with a one-minute break between videos. The videos show the actions that subjects should imagine while watching the video.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Action Observation

Intervention Type OTHER

Videos of cervical movements.

Right/Left Judgment Task

The laterality will be trained with the Recognize® application. Once the subjects have been trained, they are instructed to solve the different sections of the application, starting with the simplest tasks until reaching the most difficult ones.

These tasks would consist of indicating "left" or "right", among the different images that appear on the iPad screen, indicating if the image's neck is rotated to the left or right. Being every level more complicated, so that people of different skin tones, with clothes or in a work environment are added.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Right Left Judgement

Intervention Type DEVICE

It is an application by Noigroup (Neuro Orthopedic Institute), adapted to different devices.

Exercise

The subjects perform the exercises provided by the researchers. Which consist of neck exercises in all ranges of movement (inclinations and rotations to both sides), apart from flexion and extension.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Evidence based exercises for the neck.

Interventions

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Right Left Judgement

It is an application by Noigroup (Neuro Orthopedic Institute), adapted to different devices.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Action Observation

Videos of cervical movements.

Intervention Type OTHER

Exercise

Evidence based exercises for the neck.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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Recognise® by Noigroup

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Healthy volunteers.
* Asymptomatic on cervical region.
* Understands and accept the informed consent.
* Spanish speakers.
* People with no cognitive disorders.

Exclusion Criteria

* Pregnant women.
* Positive neurological signs or evidence of spinal cord compression (abnormal diffuse sensitivity, hyperreflexia or diffuse weakness).
* Previous cervical surgeries with recurrent symptoms.
* Previous headaches.
* Inability to provide informed consent.
* Cognitive disorders.
* Reading or verbal misunderstanding when receiving instructions.
* Having suffered any pain in the last 3 months, both in the quadrant suppressor as in the lumbar region and pelvis.
* Suffer any pain at the time of the study.
* Any recent traumatic event, whether physical or psychological / emotional.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Centro Universitario La Salle

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Josue Fernandez Carnero

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Josue Fernandez Carnero

Professor

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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David Morales Tejera, Msc., Phdc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Locations

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Centro superior de Estudios Universitarios La Salle

Madrid, Aravaca, Spain

Site Status

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

Site Status

Countries

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Spain

References

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Murray CJ, Atkinson C, Bhalla K, Birbeck G, Burstein R, Chou D, Dellavalle R, Danaei G, Ezzati M, Fahimi A, Flaxman D, Foreman, Gabriel S, Gakidou E, Kassebaum N, Khatibzadeh S, Lim S, Lipshultz SE, London S, Lopez, MacIntyre MF, Mokdad AH, Moran A, Moran AE, Mozaffarian D, Murphy T, Naghavi M, Pope C, Roberts T, Salomon J, Schwebel DC, Shahraz S, Sleet DA, Murray, Abraham J, Ali MK, Atkinson C, Bartels DH, Bhalla K, Birbeck G, Burstein R, Chen H, Criqui MH, Dahodwala, Jarlais, Ding EL, Dorsey ER, Ebel BE, Ezzati M, Fahami, Flaxman S, Flaxman AD, Gonzalez-Medina D, Grant B, Hagan H, Hoffman H, Kassebaum N, Khatibzadeh S, Leasher JL, Lin J, Lipshultz SE, Lozano R, Lu Y, Mallinger L, McDermott MM, Micha R, Miller TR, Mokdad AA, Mokdad AH, Mozaffarian D, Naghavi M, Narayan KM, Omer SB, Pelizzari PM, Phillips D, Ranganathan D, Rivara FP, Roberts T, Sampson U, Sanman E, Sapkota A, Schwebel DC, Sharaz S, Shivakoti R, Singh GM, Singh D, Tavakkoli M, Towbin JA, Wilkinson JD, Zabetian A, Murray, Abraham J, Ali MK, Alvardo M, Atkinson C, Baddour LM, Benjamin EJ, Bhalla K, Birbeck G, Bolliger I, Burstein R, Carnahan E, Chou D, Chugh SS, Cohen A, Colson KE, Cooper LT, Couser W, Criqui MH, Dabhadkar KC, Dellavalle RP, Jarlais, Dicker D, Dorsey ER, Duber H, Ebel BE, Engell RE, Ezzati M, Felson DT, Finucane MM, Flaxman S, Flaxman AD, Fleming T, Foreman, Forouzanfar MH, Freedman G, Freeman MK, Gakidou E, Gillum RF, Gonzalez-Medina D, Gosselin R, Gutierrez HR, Hagan H, Havmoeller R, Hoffman H, Jacobsen KH, James SL, Jasrasaria R, Jayarman S, Johns N, Kassebaum N, Khatibzadeh S, Lan Q, Leasher JL, Lim S, Lipshultz SE, London S, Lopez, Lozano R, Lu Y, Mallinger L, Meltzer M, Mensah GA, Michaud C, Miller TR, Mock C, Moffitt TE, Mokdad AA, Mokdad AH, Moran A, Naghavi M, Narayan KM, Nelson RG, Olives C, Omer SB, Ortblad K, Ostro B, Pelizzari PM, Phillips D, Raju M, Razavi H, Ritz B, Roberts T, Sacco RL, Salomon J, Sampson U, Schwebel DC, Shahraz S, Shibuya K, Silberberg D, Singh JA, Steenland K, Taylor JA, Thurston GD, Vavilala MS, Vos T, Wagner GR, Weinstock MA, Weisskopf MG, Wulf S, Murray; U.S. Burden of Disease Collaborators. The state of US health, 1990-2010: burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. JAMA. 2013 Aug 14;310(6):591-608. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.13805.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23842577 (View on PubMed)

Fejer R, Kyvik KO, Hartvigsen J. The prevalence of neck pain in the world population: a systematic critical review of the literature. Eur Spine J. 2006 Jun;15(6):834-48. doi: 10.1007/s00586-004-0864-4. Epub 2005 Jul 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15999284 (View on PubMed)

Cohen SP. Epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of neck pain. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015 Feb;90(2):284-99. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2014.09.008.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25659245 (View on PubMed)

Falla D, Jull G, Russell T, Vicenzino B, Hodges P. Effect of neck exercise on sitting posture in patients with chronic neck pain. Phys Ther. 2007 Apr;87(4):408-17. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20060009. Epub 2007 Mar 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17341512 (View on PubMed)

Cohen SP, Hooten WM. Advances in the diagnosis and management of neck pain. BMJ. 2017 Aug 14;358:j3221. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j3221.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28807894 (View on PubMed)

Kay TM, Gross A, Goldsmith CH, Rutherford S, Voth S, Hoving JL, Bronfort G, Santaguida PL. Exercises for mechanical neck disorders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Aug 15;(8):CD004250. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004250.pub4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22895940 (View on PubMed)

Losana-Ferrer A, Manzanas-Lopez S, Cuenca-Martinez F, Paris-Alemany A, La Touche R. Effects of motor imagery and action observation on hand grip strength, electromyographic activity and intramuscular oxygenation in the hand gripping gesture: A randomized controlled trial. Hum Mov Sci. 2018 Apr;58:119-131. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2018.01.011. Epub 2018 Mar 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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La Touche R, Grande-Alonso M, Cuenca-Martinez F, Gonzalez-Ferrero L, Suso-Marti L, Paris-Alemany A. Diminished Kinesthetic and Visual Motor Imagery Ability in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain. PM R. 2019 Mar;11(3):227-235. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2018.05.025. Epub 2019 Jan 15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Schmid AB, Coppieters MW. Left/right judgment of body parts is selectively impaired in patients with unilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Clin J Pain. 2012 Sep;28(7):615-22. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0b013e31823e16b9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Wallwork SB, Butler DS, Fulton I, Stewart H, Darmawan I, Moseley GL. Left/right neck rotation judgments are affected by age, gender, handedness and image rotation. Man Ther. 2013 Jun;18(3):225-30. doi: 10.1016/j.math.2012.10.006. Epub 2013 Jan 26.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23357411 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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URJC-07/2019

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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