Treatment of Neuropathic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury - a RTMS Approach
NCT ID: NCT06284694
Last Updated: 2024-12-18
Study Results
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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ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
NA
10 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2024-08-01
2025-06-30
Brief Summary
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Detailed Description
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Treatment modalities for NP aim to reduce pain and improve function and quality of life. Pharmacological interventions are considered first-line therapy for NP management, though there remains limited evidence to support the efficacy of this treatment modality. Pharmacologic therapies may also include negative side effects. Additionally, clinical guidelines for NP management recommend including non-pharmacologic strategies. Therefore, an interdisciplinary strategy may be required to effectively mitigate NP after SCI. Evidence of neuromodulation techniques to improve various pain conditions is well established, and reductions in pain may be related to the modified brain activity. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation intervention with a low risk of adverse effects. Preliminary studies investigating rTMS for NP after SCI have shown a therapeutic effect after treatment whereby quality of life and pain improved in this population.
RESEARCH QUESTION AND OBJECTIVES
This study aims to determine the clinical feasibility of a rTMS protocol to improve pain symptomology in adults with NP following SCI. Additionally, this study will contribute to the limited body of evidence for the efficacy of this treatment modality in this population.
The primary objective is to determine symptomatic changes in pain profile and treatment response using the International Spinal Cord Injury Pain Basic Data Set (ISCIPBDS) self-report version, a valid and reliably tested instrument, and the PROMIS Scale Neuropathic Pain Quality 5a questionnaire.
Secondary objectives include assessing quality of life (QLI-SCI), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), disability (WHODAS), and pain catastrophizing (PCS).
METHODS
Clinical Assessments: Demographic information, including age, sex, gender, and past medical history will be collected prior to participation. Participant's neurological level of impairment will be determined by a treating physician, allied health professional, or research study physician. The initial assessment will include answering questionnaires: International Spinal Cord Injury Pain Basic Data Set (ISCIPBDS) self-report version, PROMIS Scale Neuropathic Pain Quality 5a questionnaire, Quality of Life Index Spinal Cord Injury v3 (QLI-SCI), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0, Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and previous medication and treatment questionnaires. Participant's current medication usage will be monitored during the study and rTMS tolerability will be assessed immediately following each treatment session. Participants will be asked to complete the above-mentioned questionnaires post-rTMS treatment, at 1 and 3 months after their last rTMS treatment.
TMS Protocol: Participants will undergo high frequency rTMS sessions 5 days a week for 4 weeks (20 treatments total). Daily rTMS sessions will include 10 trains of 60 pulses (600 pulses total) at a frequency of 10 Hz, with an inter-train interval of 45-seconds. Treatment intensity will be applied at 100-120% of the participant's resting motor threshold (RMT). A RMT is the minimal intensity required to evoke a motor evoked potential and will be obtained by administering single-pulse TMS to the left motor cortex. Electromyography (EMG) electrodes will be placed on the contralateral abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscle to determine the motor evoked potential peak-to-peak amplitude, requiring 50 microvolts amplitude in 5 of 10 consecutive stimulations. The rTMS treatment will be administered to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) which will be located using Montreal Neurologic Institute (MNI) coordinates (-50, 30, 36). Participants will be seated in a comfortable chair or their wheelchair for each rTMS session.
Conditions
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Keywords
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Study Design
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NA
SINGLE_GROUP
TREATMENT
NONE
Study Groups
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Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
Participants will undergo high frequency rTMS sessions 5 days a week for 4 weeks (20 treatments total). Treatment intensity will be applied at 100-120% of the participant's resting motor threshold. The neurostimulation protocol will be 10 trains of 60 pulses (600 pulses total) at a frequency of 10 Hz, with inter-train interval of 45-seconds. The rTMS will be administered to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) which will be located using Montreal Neurologic Institute (MNI) coordinates (-50, 30, 36) on a standardized brain. Participants will be seated in a comfortable chair or their wheelchair for each rTMS session.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
See experimental arm description
Interventions
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Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
See experimental arm description
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Neuropathic pain for at least 3-months, as diagnosed by a physician
* Pain not attributable to any other conditions
* Aged 18-75 years
* Can complete wheelchair transfers independently
Exclusion Criteria
* Any TMS-related contraindications, for example: pacemaker, metallic implant, other medical conditions such as structural brain disease, previous seizure, psychiatric disorders (excluding depression and anxiety), suicide attempt in the past 6 months, liver or kidney disease, malignancy, uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes, and current pregnancy or the desire to become pregnant in the next 6 months.
18 Years
75 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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University of Calgary
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Principal Investigators
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Chantel T Debert, MD MSc FRCPC
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of Calgary
Locations
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Foothills Medical Centre
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Countries
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References
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Burke D, Fullen BM, Stokes D, Lennon O. Neuropathic pain prevalence following spinal cord injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Pain. 2017 Jan;21(1):29-44. doi: 10.1002/ejp.905. Epub 2016 Jun 24.
Hatch MN, Cushing TR, Carlson GD, Chang EY. Neuropathic pain and SCI: Identification and treatment strategies in the 21st century. J Neurol Sci. 2018 Jan 15;384:75-83. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2017.11.018. Epub 2017 Nov 16.
Almeida C, Monteiro-Soares M, Fernandes A. Should Non-Pharmacological and Non-Surgical Interventions be Used to Manage Neuropathic Pain in Adults With Spinal Cord Injury? - A Systematic Review. J Pain. 2022 Sep;23(9):1510-1529. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.03.239. Epub 2022 Apr 10.
Shen Z, Li Z, Ke J, He C, Liu Z, Zhang D, Zhang Z, Li A, Yang S, Li X, Li R, Zhao K, Ruan Q, Du H, Guo L, Yin F. Effect of non-invasive brain stimulation on neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Aug 21;99(34):e21507. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000021507.
Saleh C, Ilia TS, Jaszczuk P, Hund-Georgiadis M, Walter A. Is transcranial magnetic stimulation as treatment for neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury efficient? A systematic review. Neurol Sci. 2022 May;43(5):3007-3018. doi: 10.1007/s10072-022-05978-0. Epub 2022 Mar 3.
Treede RD, Jensen TS, Campbell JN, Cruccu G, Dostrovsky JO, Griffin JW, Hansson P, Hughes R, Nurmikko T, Serra J. Neuropathic pain: redefinition and a grading system for clinical and research purposes. Neurology. 2008 Apr 29;70(18):1630-5. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000282763.29778.59. Epub 2007 Nov 14.
Sun X, Long H, Zhao C, Duan Q, Zhu H, Chen C, Sun W, Ju F, Sun X, Zhao Y, Xue B, Tian F, Mou X, Yuan H. Analgesia-enhancing effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury:An fNIRS study. Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2019;37(5):497-507. doi: 10.3233/RNN-190934.
Seminowicz DA, Moayedi M. The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Acute and Chronic Pain. J Pain. 2017 Sep;18(9):1027-1035. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2017.03.008. Epub 2017 Apr 8.
Brighina F, Piazza A, Vitello G, Aloisio A, Palermo A, Daniele O, Fierro B. rTMS of the prefrontal cortex in the treatment of chronic migraine: a pilot study. J Neurol Sci. 2004 Dec 15;227(1):67-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2004.08.008.
Other Identifiers
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REB23-0120
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id