Autonomic Effects of Spinal Cord Stimulation in Spinal Cord Injury

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorJames J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center

About this trial

The goal of this interventional crossover study is to determine the effects of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (TSCS) on the ability to perform moderate exercise and regulate core body temperature in the chronic spinal cord injury community. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* What are the effects of active TSCS targeted for BP control on exercise endurance time and HR recovery during submaximal arm cycle ergometry (ACE) as compared to sham TSCS in participants with chronic, cervical SCI? * What are the effects of active TSCS on Tcore responses to cool ambient exposure and on subjective reporting of thermal comfort and thermal sensitivity as compared to sham TSCS.

Participants will receive sham and active stimulation while using an arm bicycle or while in a cold room. Participants are free to participate in either the exercise phase, the cold room phase, or both phases of this study.

Please note that there no expected long term benefits of this study.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

You are above the age of 18 years old

You have an SCI between C3-T6

You have been injured longer than 1 year

You participated in a prior experiment "Targeted Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation to Restore Autonomic Cardiovascular Health in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury"

Disqualifiers

You have a history of seizures

You have an acute illness or infection

You have diabetes

You have untreated thyroid disease

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation (TSCS)
  • Sham Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation

Treatment groups

20 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups