Virtual Walking to Reduce Chronic Neuropathic Pain in Subjects With SCI
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-75
SponsorSwiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil
About this trial
About 70% of people with a spinal cord injury in Switzerland have chronic pain that lasts more than 3 to 6 months. This pain can be caused by muscle or joint problems, or by nerve damage (neuropathic pain). Neuropathic pain is often hard to treat, and current treatments may cause side effects or not work well.
This study will test whether virtual walking from different visual perspectives can reduce chronic neuropathic pain and improve quality of life after spinal cord injury. We will also compare which perspective works best.
To better understand how the training works, we will use two tests-quantitative sensory testing (QST) and contact heat-evoked potentials (CHEPs)-to measure changes in the pain and nerve systems.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Sufficient knowledge of German language to understand the instructions, assessments and to fill in questionnaires.
Age ≥ 18y, ≤ 75y
Chronic traumatic or non-traumatic SCI (>6 month after SCI) with an SCI severity grade AIS A, B, C or D
At or below level spinal cord injury neuropathic pain on trunk or lower extremities diagnosed by a neurologist following the ISCIP classification (Bryce et al., 2012) of at least 4/10 intensity on a NRS (Langford et al., 2023)
Disqualifiers
- Serious psychiatric disorders, which are accompanied by imminent or current acute harm to oneself or others, or which require inpatient psychiatric treatment for other reasons, or other indications of a foreseeable, seriously harmful effect of participation in the study based on the clinical impression from the psychological screening interview
Participants with a walking ability more than 5 minutes without walking aids
Pregnancy (anamnestic) in women of child-bearing age (18-49 years)
Known epilepsy
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Virtual Walking
- Sham Virtual Walking
Treatment groups
40 Participants
are divided into 3 treatment groupsSponsors and collaborators
Source ClinicalTrials.gov