29 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The opioid crisis continues to plague the United States. While great strides have been made nationwide to decrease overprescribing, improvements are still needed to appropriately educate patients on the safe and responsible use, storage and disposal of opioids. Pain after surgery is often treated with opioid medications. Opioid medications can have side effects. Some side effects are relatively minor (constipation, nausea, vomiting), while others are more severe (sedation, abnormal breathing, etc.) and can lead to serious illness or death. Opioid pain medications when used the wrong way may also be addictive. Due to theses side effects, sometimes patients feel uncomfortable about taking these medications, and doctors prescribe them very cautiously. However, when used properly and safely, opioid pain medications are excellent pain relievers. Addinex, a technology company, has developed a device to help patients take opioids more safely. In this study the investigators aim to enroll a total of 30 patients who undergo spine surgery. Half will be randomly assigned to receive a standard pill bottle with opioids at discharge and will download a mobile app so that they can record their daily pain scores and the number of opioids they take for two weeks after surgery. The other half will receive the new opioid dispenser filled with opioids and a mobile app that generates a passcode that opens that device only at designated times. For this group of patients, every time the patient wants to take an opioid, they need to go to the app, enter their pain score before the app generates a passcode. The investigators will be tracking all study patients' opioid use and pain scores for the two weeks after surgery, will count how many pills they have left over 14 days after their surgery during a live telehealth session, and ask patients how they liked using the device. Results from this study will help understand if the Addinex device could potentially be useful to patients in the future after surgeries as opposed to typical pill bottles.
The purpose of this research is to determine the pain-reducing effects of ketamine (Ketalar, an FDA-approved drug for anesthesia) and methadone (Dolophine, a long-acting narcotic) after lumbar laminectomy. The investigators would like to evaluate whether intraoperative use of both drugs may be able to provide better control of pain after lumbar surgery.
Decompressive laminectomy (DL) is the most common type of back surgery performed in older adults; DL treats lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a degenerative narrowing of the spinal canal causes pain and trouble walking. An estimated one in three people who undergo DL do not get well and often undergo repeated surgery.1,3-6 Some studies indicate that conditions outside of the spine (e.g., depression, hip arthritis) cause people who undergo DL to do poorly,27,30-36 but no one has comprehensively examined these conditions or the impact of treating them on DL outcomes. Thus LSS treatment continues to focus on the spine alone.61 The aim of this study is to identify conditions other than LSS that place Veterans at risk of poor DL outcomes so that future comparative effectiveness studies can be designed that examine the impact of a more comprehensive approach to treatment. Investigators believe that a patient-centered rather than a disease-centered approach will lead to superior outcomes, less suffering, and more appropriate use of health care resources.
Cervical collars are commonly used to provide external immobilization after elective Posterior Cervical Laminectomy and Interbody Fusion (PCLIF). The rationale for collar use is the perception and assumption that it can prevent early instrumentation failure and promote successful spinal fusion. However, there are a number of potential complications associated with cervical collars such as skin breakdown, ulceration, neck pain, impedance upon activities of daily living, and impaired swallowing. Considering these conflicting factors, there is wide disagreement among spinal surgeons about the utility, benefits, and necessity of collar use following elective PCLIF. Hypothesis: Wearing a cervical collar for 12 weeks after posterior cervical laminectomy and instrumented fusion will not demonstrate substantial benefits as measured by the incidence of instrumentation failure, rate of nonunion, or clinical outcome measures. Specific Aim I: To compare the outcomes of surgery in patients who will wear a cervical collar for 12 weeks following surgery versus those who will have the collar removed prior to discharge after surgery.
The objective of this study is to compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of multi-level laminectomy to multi-level laminoplasty in the treatment of patients with cervical myelopathy or myeloradiculopathy. The hypothesis for the study is that the laminoplasty group is not inferior to the laminectomy group.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of esmolol, a drug which is commonly administered during surgery to help control blood pressure and heart rate, on postoperative pain levels and requirements for pain medication.
The purpose of the project is to perform an RCT comparing patient satisfaction and outcome with or without the use of an expert panel. The purpose is also to create a registry to compare the effectiveness of decompression alone versus decompression with fusion for patients with degenerative grade I spondylolisthesis and symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis. Primary analysis will focus on the patients' improvement from baseline patient-reported outcome questionnaires. In addition, the SLIP II registry aims to (i) develop an algorithm which could identify cases in which surgical experts are likely to recommend one treatment (i.e. \>80% of experts recommend one form of treatment) and (ii) develop a radiology-based machine learning algorithm that would prospectively classify patients as either 'stable' or 'unstable.' In addition to patient reported outcomes, step counts will be collected in order to determine the correlation of step count with patient-reported outcomes (ODI and EQ-5D) and the need for re-operation. This registry portion of the study aims to prospectively collect comparative data for these patients treated with either decompression alone or decompression with fusion.
The effective relief of pain is of paramount importance to anyone treating patients undergoing surgery. Post-operative pain increases the possibility of post-surgical complications, raises the cost of medical care, and most importantly, interferes with recovery and return to normal activities of daily living. Therefore pain control is essential in the management of patients undergoing spinal surgery.Parenteral administration of narcotics has been the mainstay for postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing laminectomy and discectomy. Epidural and intrathecal opioids are also effective means of pain control in several major surgical interventions including spinal surgery. However, some of the side effects have limited their widespread use (eg, late-onset respiratory depression). Therefore, alternative measures of pain control including infiltration of paraspinal musculature with local anesthetics have been investigated with conflicting results. In situations such as laminectomies, where the epidural space is exposed as part of the surgical procedure, the application of absorbable gelatin sponge soaked in local anesthetics appears to be an alternative for providing postoperative analgesia. By investigating the probable analgesic effects of this method the investigators may relieve post laminectomy pain with minimal side effects and also costs.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether tracheal intubation with the CMAC device decreases the time required for intubation as compared to intubation with the fiberoptic bronchoscope in patients with an unstable cervical spine. Both the CMAC device and the fiberoptic bronchoscope are currently commonly used in standard of care practices in the intubation of patients with cervical spine injury.
The purpose of this study will be to determine the efficacy and the prognostic value of a continuous intrathecal prognostic infusion test in an in-hospital setting for selecting patients who would have better long term outcomes for treatment with intrathecal implantable devices. The investigators will compare the primary outcomes \[changes in pain intensity score (NRS), patient global impression of change (PGIC)\] before and after intrathecal infusion of an admixture of bupivacaine 0.625 mg/ml and fentanyl 1 mcg/ml versus normal saline. The study will include 36 patients with intractable chronic low back pain in the setting of lumbar post-laminectomy syndrome or vertebral compression fracture who failed conservative management and are considered candidates for IDDS. Prior to the implant, the patients will undergo an intrathecal prognostic infusion test with an externalized catheter. Baseline NRS pain scores will be assessed and documented on all patients upon admission to the preoperative area. An intrathecal catheter will be placed in the outpatient procedure suite at the appropriate level for target dermatomes. The needle entry point will occur in the upper lumbar spine and catheter tip will be placed in the lower thoracic spine, under local anesthesia with the patient awake and with minimal or no sedation. The intrathecal infusion will be started using an external pump once patient is in the PACU. The research component is to perform the intrathecal test with normal saline (inactive placebo solution) in addition to a test with fentanyl and bupivacaine (active solution). Patients will be randomly assigned to either Group I (continuous infusion of bupivacaine and fentanyl followed by saline) or Group II (continuous infusion of saline followed by bupivacaine and fentanyl). In PACU, patients will be started on an infusion rate of 0.5 ml/hr and titrated to pain relief greater than 50% of baseline or up to 0.8-1.0 ml/hr within 6-8 hrs after start of the infusion. A clinician blinded to the treatment arm will assess NRS and PGIC on the patients after approximately 12 hours. Assessment will include changes in pain intensity score at rest and upon ambulating or performing maneuvers that normally elicit patient's low back pain. A 4-6-hour washout period will be allotted with infusion of preservative-free normal saline at a rate of 0.2 ml/hr, after which the physician will document a return of the NRS to baseline before switching therapies.
For this study the investigators will conduct five-day trial periods for spinal cord stimulator (SCS) effectiveness-once a patient is deemed to be a possible SCS candidate, the trial leads are implanted and they are asked to return to clinic in five days to evaluate the effectiveness of the trial. The primary outcome for this study will be a comparison of daily energy expenditure (EE), in units of kcal/day, prior to and after the trial implantation of the SCS leads and external pulse generator. Patients will wear the accelerometer device twenty-four hours a day for five days prior to the trial lead implantation to obtain baseline values, have the trial leads implanted in the procedure clinic, then continue to wear the accelerometer for another five days. Baseline and post-SCS energy expenditure values will be compared. The secondary outcomes for this study will be steps taken, hours of sleep, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI, as described in appendix 1) during the pre and post trial implantation periods. SCS itself is not a research procedure in this study, rather it is part of routine medical care for patients who would benefit from the procedure.
Evaluate the analgesic benefit of Gralise® for post-laminectomy pain syndrome (PLPS)
The Integration of Mindfulness and Acupuncture for individuals undergoing Spine Surgery (I-MASS) is a novel combination of integrative treatments to improve post-surgical recovery. This is a single-site, two-arm randomized feasibility and acceptability pilot trial of the I-MASS program plus enhanced patient education compared to enhanced patient education alone in patients undergoing spine surgery. Outcomes data will come from a combination of passive electronic health record data augmented with patient-reported data collected through the Pattern Health app (the mHealth platform used for delivering mindfulness training and collecting data). Outcomes will focus on feasibility and acceptability of I-MASS, feasibility of recruitment and retention strategies, and data collection procedures through both the Pattern Health app and electronic health record. Feasibility will be supported by mindfulness module completion rates, acupuncture visits attended, participant retention, and questionnaire completion rates. Acceptability will be supported by patient-reported satisfaction, acceptability and usability thresholds.
This is a clinical study of patients who have low back pain (for at least 6 months). The goal is to understand, with brain imaging, how auriculotherapy (an acupuncture-like stimulation of the ear) may work to relieve pain. There are 4 total study visits, divided into two pairs of visits that occur before and 5-7 days after receiving either a real or sham auriculotherapy treatment. The cryo-IQ device will be used, to stimulate 7 small areas on both ears with a focused jet of cold as a small amount of compressed gas is released. This is generally not painful, and less invasive, compared to using needles for auriculotherapy.
This is a Phase 2, multicenter study in subjects undergoing an open lumbar decompression surgery.
The purpose of the study is to demonstrate safety and efficacy of spinal cord stimulation with peripheral nerve field stimulation for the treatment of chronic low back and leg pain.
The purpose of the study is to see whether a clavicle splint can decrease the pain after posterior cervicothoracic surgery. The term "cervicle splint" conveys that the investigators do not deal with clavicle fractures here but use the splint he stabilize the posterior cervical area. The investigators want to demonstrate this in a prospective randomized manner.
The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of Subcutaneous Nerve Stimulation (SQS) (also known as Peripheral Nerve Stimulation \[PNS\]) in the reduction of chronic, intractable post-surgical back pain in adults.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of intravenous acetaminophen (Tylenol) for post operative pain control in patients undergoing craniotomies (brain surgery) and spine surgery. Studies have shown that intravenous acetaminophen is useful for post operative pain control in some operations but there have not been studies to evaluate the use of acetaminophen in craniotomies or spine surgery.
The EVIDENCE trial is a randomized controlled trial comparing the therapeutic effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Precision® Spinal Cord Stimulation with that of reoperation as a treatment of pain in patients with Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). FBSS is defined as persistent or recurrent pain following one or more lumbosacral spine surgical procedures. Surgical procedures that can result in FBSS can be categorized as either decompression or decompression followed by fusion with or without instrumentation. The pain of FBSS is categorized as neuropathic, which involves pathological nerve activity and is commonly characterized by patients as shooting or burning and/or nociceptive, which signals actual or impending tissue damage or inflammation.
This is a single-center, randomized, prospective, double-blind clinical study to assess the clinical application and outcomes with MILD® devices versus epidural steroid injection in patients with symptomatic moderate to severe central canal spinal stenosis.
The primary purpose of this study is to compare anterior and posterior surgical approach in treatment of CSM in terms of surgical complications and neurological, functional, disease-specific and quality of life outcomes measures. Secondary aims are to quantify the amount of change pre and post-surgery concerning the same outcome measures; to determine if there are differences in outcomes between posterior surgical techniques (i.e. laminectomy with fusion or laminoplasty) and examine the relationship between baseline MRI and baseline and follow-up neurological and functional outcomes.
Single-center, randomized study will enroll 50 subjects who are scheduled for 1-3 level posterior laminectomy \& fusion. Study participants who are eligible for the posterior lumbar laminectomy and fusion procedure will be scheduled and also consented as a part of the study. Participants will be stratified based on age and gender to ensure equal distribution.
The study will examine the feasibility of Direct Dorsal Column Stimulation using existing Stimulation Leads (Ad-Tech). Secondary endpoints will include pain relief, somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), stimulator settings required, improvement in quality of life and use of pain medications.
The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) using the Medtronic Specify® 5-6-5 multicolumn surgical lead plus optimal medical management (OMM) versus OMM alone in patients suffering from predominant low back pain due to failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS).
To evaluate the effectiveness of steroids and/or 10% hypertonic sodium chloride in percutaneous adhesiolysis in managing chronic low back and/or lower extremity pain in patients with post lumbar surgery syndrome. To evaluate and compare the adverse event profile in all groups.
The purpose of this study is to: * evaluate the effectiveness of percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis in managing chronic low back and/or lower extremity pain in patients without post lumbar surgery syndrome or spinal stenosis and compare with fluoroscopically directed caudal epidural steroid injections. * evaluate and compare the adverse event profile in all groups.
To demonstrate clinically significant improvements or lack thereof in the caudal epidural patients with our without steroids. To evaluate differences in outcomes in patients receiving steroids compared to those patients randomized to the local anesthetic group who did not receive steroids. To assess improvements among patients and compare steroid groups with each other and local anesthetic group. To evaluate and compare the adverse event profile in all patients
More than 10,000 people each year in the United States have "failed back surgery syndrome" caused by scars that form around the outer surface of the spinal cord. Such scarring, known as peridural fibrosis, is common after back surgery known as either lumbar discectomy or laminectomy. Peridural fibrosis may cause recurring low back pain or leg pain after surgery. Operating again to remove the scar tissue often leads to more scarring. Researchers have not previously studied radiation as a way to prevent peridural fibrosis. We will test whether low-dose radiation given 24 hours before surgery will decrease the amount of peridural fibrosis and if this reduction will lead to improved results of surgery. Half of the participants will receive radiation before surgery and the other half will not. We will evaluate patients at followup visits 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery with a physical exam and questionnaire. At 12 months, we will obtain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lower spine.