7 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) is a painful condition affecting runners and it is caused by a reversible increase in pressure within a closed compartment in the leg. Currently, to diagnose CECS, a large needle is placed into the muscle to measure pressure, which is invasive and painful. After diagnosis, the gold standard of treatment is surgery, which is also invasive, involves a prolonged return to play, and has a significant number of treatment failures. A growing literature has suggested alternative methods to both diagnosis and treatment that include the use of ultrasound to investigate muscle stiffness with shear wave elastography (SWE), and treatment with botulinum toxin injection into the muscle. The investigators propose a single-site randomized clinical trial to investigate the use of abobotulinumtoxinA in the treatment of CECS. Researchers also look to develop a non-invasive method for the diagnosis of CECS using SWE. To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first randomized study investigating the medication to treat this cause. The study will take place at Emory's outpatient sports medicine clinic. Potential participants will primarily be identified and recruited from the departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopedics, Physical Therapy, and Sports medicine as a part of regular clinical care. Participants will be included in the randomized portion of the study if they meet the previously established diagnostic criteria for CECS with compartmental pressure testing. This would be a landmark study to provide evidence for the use of an abobotulinumtoxinA in the treatment of CECS, leading to the potential avoidance of a surgical procedure. It could also change the means of diagnosis without the use of painful and invasive needle pressure testing that would provide patients and athletes with ease of care.
10 participants with Recurrent Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (R-CECS) will be enrolled in a 6 month study at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics to test the hypothesis that injection of Botox into the affected muscle group will alleviate pain associated with R-CECS.
Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) in the lower leg is a debilitating condition in highly active individuals. Pain occurs in 1 or several leg compartments upon an exertional activity, typically running, that quickly dissipates once the activity stopped. Surgical fasciotomy is the standard for treating lower leg CECS, but success is variable. Complications may occur post-surgery and there is a potential for a repeat procedure. Recovery times post-surgery also vary greatly. Conservative treatments, such as gait retraining and botulinum toxin injections, are emerging as non-surgical options for the treatment of CECS with success through published case reports and case series. This study aims to evaluate the use of these non-surgical treatment options for CECS in the anterior and lateral leg compartments with a follow up for at least 2 years across multiple study sites.
After diagnosis of Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS), the participants will be referred to both physical therapy and Botox injection. In physical therapy, the therapist will perform strength measurements of the lower leg (ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion) which will be repeated 2 months following the injection. An ultrasound-guided injection of 50 units of Botox will be administered into the tibialis anterior. 25 units will be injected into two different spots in the muscle one being more proximal and the other distal. This will be a one-time injection and will be observed as to how it effects participant symptoms over the next 6 months at either a clinic visit (at 2 months) or telephone call (at 4 and 6 months after injection) via the University of Wisconsin Running Index. Two months following the injection, the participant will undergo repeat measurements of strength using the Kiio Force Sensor. Should potential participants of childbearing potential wish to enroll in the study, a urine pregnancy test will be performed prior to enrollment; participants will not be enrolled if test is positive.
The purpose of this study is to investigate high frequency ultrasound as a future modality for the diagnosis of chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS). The results of the ultrasound will help determine if there are any significant radiologic findings or patterns seen in patients with CECS.
We will investigate the feasibility of a simple outpatient one time injection regimen for the treatment of Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS). We think botulinum toxin injections will be a potentially cost-effective, low-risk alternative to surgery in reducing pain and returning patients to full activity.
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) is an innocuous condition seen primarily in 10-60% of young active people with exercise induced leg pain. With an average delay in diagnosis of 2 years, early identification is crucial as delays have led to poor surgical outcomes after fasciotomy. Diagnosis is currently made by compartment pressure (CP) testing, which is invasive, painful and demonstrates variable accuracy. There is no literature on the role of shear wave elastography (SWE) and/or subharmonic assisted pressure estimation (SHAPE) with microbubbles in diagnosing CECS. Ultrasound contrast agents are FDA-approved and are extremely safe. In this single-blinded prospective pilot study, the accuracy of SHAPE and SWE will be evaluated and compared to the current gold standard of compartment testing in patients with suspected CECS. Muscle stiffness and record a quantitative assessment of enhancement and hydrostatic pressures will be documented and correlated with compartment testing results based on a reference standard modified Pedowitz criteria for CECS