12 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
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.
This is a Phase 2, multicenter study in subjects undergoing an open lumbar decompression surgery.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.