Clinical trials

Many women suffer from bladder pain syndrome (BPS). There are many treatments, but there is no one universally effective option. The goal of this clinical trial is to explore the use of electrical energy directed towards a group of nerves, called the superior hypogastric plexus, for treatment of BPS in women over the age of 18 with a diagnosis of BPS. The main question it aims to answer is: does use of electrical micro-current directed at the superior hypogastric plexus improve pain associated with BPS? There is data from many different studies that suggest that this kind of therapy might provide relief of BPS symptoms. Participants will be asked to participate for a total of six months from the date of their first nerve treatment. At the first appointment, they will be evaluated in the Walter Reed Chronic Pain clinic and asked several questions about the severity and personal management of their symptoms. The procedure will then be performed by inserting two needles into the back (one on either side of the spine) and directing extremely short bursts of electrical micro-current towards the target nerve. The medical term for this is "pulsed radiofrequency ablation." This procedure causes disruption on a microscopic level of nerve fibers that send pain sensations to the bladder and other organs in the pelvis. Following this initial appointment, participants will be asked about their symptoms at 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up appointments. Participants will be asked about pain, mood symptoms, sexual function, and measures of bladder irritation. The procedure will only be performed once. At the study conclusion, researchers will analyze pain scores, as well as other secondary outcomes listed above. Benefits of this study may include possible relief of BPS symptoms. This may help to advance research about treatments for BPS. This is a novel approach to the treatment of BPS and as such may provide benefits greater than those found in treatment outside of the study.

The goal of this investigational study is to evaluate participation in a weekly, interactive, tender loving care messaging platform impact on pregnancy outcomes in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss. The main questions it aims to answer are: (1) does participation in weekly, interactive tender loving care messages increase live birth rates in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss? (2) Does participation in weekly, interactive tender loving care messages increase patients' quality of life? Does participation in weekly, interactive tender loving care messages decrease patients' depressive symptoms? Participants will be asked to interact with weekly messages providing prenatal counseling and support. Additionally, patients will be asked to complete the fertility quality of life survey several times over the course of the pregnancy.

Purpose: Aim 1: Quantify soft tissue complications and infections of service members with transtibial amputations treated with OPRA OI and compare them to transfemoral OI service members. Aim 2: Compare the validated domains, such as functional, quality of life and pain scores, from the preoperative baseline to follow-up visits to determine if persons with transtibial amputations treated with OPRA osseointegrated prostheses demonstrate statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements. Aim 3: Compare physical performance measures preoperatively to follow-up visits for persons with transtibial amputations treated with OPRA osseointegrated prostheses to quantify statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements. Aim 4: Quantify the biomechanical loading and bone quality changes that are directly associated with patient reported outcomes for persons with transtibial amputations treated with OPRA osseointegration. Aim 5: Compare outcome measures between persons with traditional socket prostheses (patients as self-controls) and OPRA OI devices as well as a comparison between persons with transtibial OI and transfemoral OI. Subject Population: Male and female military health care beneficiaries age 22 to 65 years old presenting with a Transtibial limb loss. Study Design: This is a 4-year, prospective cohort FDA pivotal study involving off-label use of the OPRA OI implant in persons with transtibial amputation. Procedures: SURGICAL PROCEDURES: Surgery Stage I: The distal part of the tibia is exposed, preferably using existing incisions, to produce an appropriate fasciocutaneous flap. By the use of fluoroscopy and guiding devices the correct position of the fixture in the medullary canal is found. The canal is reamed step by step to a proper diameter to facilitate insertion of the implant. If the bone quality is poor, as determined by the operating surgeon, autologous bone graft from the iliac crest and/or the medullary canal is used. The fixture is then implanted into the intramedullary canal. Careful surgical technique is essential not to damage the tissue and to achieve osseointegration. A central screw, healing cylinder, and healing bolt are inserted. A myodesis is performed, and the wound is closed using suture. The sutures are removed 2-3 weeks postoperatively. When the skin is completely healed the Patient's conventional socket prosthesis could, in some instances, be used. Surgery Stage II (3-5 months after Stage I): The tibia is exposed via the incision from the Stage I-Surgery. The healing cylinder is removed and the tissues are trimmed in a way that the distal end of the bone protrudes a few millimeters. The skin will be attached directly to it. The endosteal canal is reamed to facilitate placement of the abutment. The skin in the abutment area is then trimmed to a diameter equal to the protruding end of the tibia. This is done to remove the subcutaneous fat and facilitate healing of the dermal layer to the distal end of the bone. The subcutaneous tissue is affixed to the periosteum using absorbable suture to prevent skin movement. A 8mm punch biopsy tool is used to create a circular hole in the skin precisely over the residual tibial canal. The remaining portion of the fasciocutaneous flap is sutured into position. A bolster dressing is placed and routine postoperative wound care is performed by daily dressing changes. Sutures are removed 2-3 weeks postoperatively. CLINICAL PROCEDURES A pre-study visit will be conducted up to 6 months prior to Surgery Stage I. Postoperative visits will occur 2-3 weeks after each surgery. Additional follow-up visits will occur 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months post-Surgery Stage II. It is standard of care to follow patients postoperatively from time to time to ensure the wound(s) is /are healing, surveil for complications, and ensure rehabilitation is progressing. That said, the sole reason for engaging in the Clinical Follow-Up Procedures is for the purpose of conducting research under this particular protocol. Additional visits may occur including x-rays at the discretion of the clinical investigator in order to monitor the participants medical status/bone healing. RESEARCH PROCEDURES Timepoints: Baseline, Post-Op Stage II, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, 48 months, and 60 months The patients will be assessed before and after the surgery regularly. Both performance and safety data will be recorded on specially designed electronic Case Report Forms (eCRFs). Clinical and radiological assessments are performed preoperatively (in connection with the surgical procedures.

Musculoskeletal injuries (MSKI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are the signature injuries of the ongoing military conflicts. MSKI affect 800,000 Service Members annually and TBI have impacted more than 350,000 in the past 19 years and account for 22% of all combat casualties. Concussion, a mild form of TBI, increases MSKI risk in physically active individuals, including Service Members. The overall goal of the study is to identify the neuromuscular control mechanisms that increase MSKI risk following concussion. It is hypothesized that concussed individuals will display abnormal neuromuscular function that increases MSKI risk, as compared to non-concussed controls. The study will employ a multi-center, prospective, case-matched control observational study to identify the differences in neuromuscular function following concussion that may contribute to increased MSKI risk. Once the neuromuscular control mechanisms that increase MSKI risk following concussion are identified, targeted risk mitigation strategies can be developed to reduce MSKI risk.

Art therapy is used across the Military Health System for treatment of posttraumatic symptoms, but there is limited research on how art therapy is able to restore emotional expression and regulation in service members. This research hopes to learn about the effects of art therapy on emotional expression and regulation in service members as well as the neurological systems at work. If a participant chooses to be in this study, he or she will attend eleven sessions over a period of six to eight months. The first session will be an interview and self-assessment questionnaires to collect information on a variety of symptoms, experiences, and personality traits, and an MRI scan. During the MRI scan, participants will be asked to perform a task where they will be shown a series of neutral and negative images. The following eight sessions will be one-hour art therapy sessions with a certified art therapist. The tenth session will consist of the same self-assessment questionnaires and another MRI scan. The final session will consist of some of the same questionnaires from the tenth visit, as well as a qualitative interview done virtually three months after the tenth visit.

This observational study will examine the association of chronic traumatic cerebrovascular injury and cardiovascular risk factors with TBI-related cognitive impairment and vascular dementia. Cerebrovascular, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative blood biomarkers as well as clinical and neuroimaging data

The goal of this clinical trial is to find out which type of steroid medicine, when added to a standard pain-control injection during total knee replacement surgery, works best at reducing pain, limiting opioid use, and improving recovery in adults undergoing surgery for severe knee arthritis or injury. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does adding a steroid to the injection improve pain control and reduce opioid use after surgery? Is the newer extended-release steroid (Zilretta) more effective and safer-especially for patients with diabetes-than the traditional steroid (methylprednisolone)? Researchers will compare: Standard pain-control injection alone Standard injection plus methylprednisolone Standard injection plus Zilretta to see which option provides better pain relief, less opioid use, and improved knee function. (Patients with diabetes or prediabetes will only be in the standard injection or Zilretta groups so researchers can study whether Zilretta is safer for blood sugar control.) Participants will: Be randomly assigned to one of the study groups during their total knee replacement surgery Receive the assigned pain-control injection around the knee joint Be followed after surgery to measure: Pain levels Opioid pain medication use Knee movement (range of motion) Whether another procedure (such as manipulation under anesthesia) is needed if the knee becomes too stiff Patient-reported outcome surveys about pain and function

The investigators will accomplish our research aims by collecting cutaneous microbiome samples from 50 persons that have undergone the Osseointegration (OI) surgery at eight timepoints, prospectively. The investigators will also collect control samples to correct for turnovers in species compositions that may naturally occur and to compare the residual limb microbiome to the sound contralateral limb. The investigators will sequence the bacterial community using universal bacterial primers. Using these sequences, The investigators will borrow from ecological theory and calculate the alpha and beta diversity. The alpha diversity will determine the species and abundance of each species that are present, while the beata diversity will allow us to compare how species assemblages and frequencies change between time points. Then, the investigators will take a phylogenetic modeling approach to determine if particular species assemblages correlate with rates of wound healing. The investigators will construct phylogenies from the sequences at the different time points and "paint" the rate of wound healing along the phylogeny (e.g., improved, stagnated, worsened). Using Akaike and Bayesian information criterion, the investigators can determine which phylogenetic model best explains the patterns the investigators see across patients. Lastly, the investigators will quantify soft tissue stability and health and correlate this with the homeostasis of the microbial community. Specifically, the investigators will determine if redundant soft tissue leads to altered microbial communities that can impact the rate of wound healing. Finally, the investigators will further stratify these data to compare microbial communities between the sexes, upper versus lower limbs, and proximal versus distal amputations. This work will allow us to better treat infections after OI surgery and can shed light on wound healing process so that the investigators can better treat limb loss patients and the military community as a whole.

It has been known that both estrogen and testosterone are the major sex steroids regulating bone metabolism and other physiological changes in both male and female, respectively. In postmenopausal women, osteoporosis is a major concern secondary to the lack of estrogen. These patients also experience a number of physiological changes that affect their life permanently to include hot flashes, irritability, difficulty concentrating, depression and mental confusion. In hypogonadal men, testosterone deficiency could lead to higher prevalence of depression, osteoporosis, fracture and frailty. Given the new military policy starting to support treatment for gender identity dysphoria military personnel, the number of transgender patients in our Endocrinology clinic has been slowly increasing over the past several months. These patients will require either testosterone replacement therapy or estrogen therapy to achieve their desired sexual characteristics. However, as mentioned above, the lack of estrogen or testosterone in female and male, respectively, could cause several issue in their body composition, cognitive function and quality of life. We designed this prospective case-control study to include patients with hypogonadism and the transgendered populations to learn about the long-term effects of these hormonal replacement therapies on bone density, fractures, memory/cognitive function and quality of life. This is a repetitive measures study taken at baseline, 6-months, and 12-months for three groups consisting of at least 75 subjects. The study will involve 3 arms, i.e. Group 1 primary/secondary untreated hypogonadism, Group 2 male-to female (MTF), and Group 3 female-to-male (FTM) participants that are planning to start hormone replacement therapy as per standard clinical guidelines.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common condition with a prevalence of 17% in the general population that significantly affects quality of life. Intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections are an advanced therapy for OAB as well as interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). The most common adverse event following intradetrusor injection of onabotulinumtoxinA in urinary tract infection (UTI), which occurs in 8.6-48.1% of patients. To prevent UTIs, patients are given a course of antibiotics, however the ideal prophylactic regimen has not been determined for the timing, duration, and type of antibiotic. Four retrospective studies in the literature address this question with variable conclusions, and there are no prospective studies. Identifying the ideal regimen is important for preventing UTIs as well as minimizing antibiotic use to prevent adverse effects and development of antibiotic resistance. The population to be studied will be female patients 18 years and older who are patients of the urogynecology and urology clinics at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with a diagnosis of OAB or IC/BPS and have chosen to be treated with intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections. It will be a non-blinded randomized controlled noninferiority trial in which the patients are randomly placed into 2 groups. The first group will receive a 3 day course of twice daily oral nitrofurantoin 100mg starting at the time of the procedure, and the second group will receive a single dose of 100mg oral nitrofurantoin at the time of the procedure. The patients will be screened at the clinic at the time that they schedule their intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injection appointment or by phone 1-2 weeks prior to their procedure. If the patient agrees to participate in the study then they will be instructed to give a urine sample for urinalysis and culture 1 week prior to the procedure appointment to exclude existing UTI. If a UTI is diagnosed at this time they must complete treatment prior to the procedure or will need to reschedule their procedure. On the day of the procedure patients will receive the clinic standard 10ml of 2% viscous lidocaine through the urethra 10-20 minutes prior to the procedure, and may be offered 5-10mg oral diazepam at the discretion of the treating physician. All patients will be given 200mg of phenazopyridine and 100mg of nitrofurantoin prior to the initiation of the procedure. The procedure will take place as directed by the treating physician per standard operating procedure. A urinalysis and urine culture will be placed for all study participants at time of their procedure appointment in case they have symptoms of UTI, and they will be instructed to follow up with the research team by phone if they have concerns for a UTI. Patients will be contacted 30-45 days after the procedure by phone, email, or message through genesis and asked about any UTI symptoms, UTI diagnoses and secondary outcomes during the 30 days following the procedure. Data will be analyzed for the primary outcome of UTI rates in the 30 days following intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injection.

Study the change in serum estrogen level based on the method of vaginal cream application (applicator vs fingertip application) and Measure patient satisfaction with vaginal estrogen cream application based on the method of application using a validated patient questionnaire (Likert scale).

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is estimated to affect 3.3 to 7.9 million women aged 18 years and older in the United States. The American Urological Association (AUA) defines IC/BPS as "an unpleasant sensation (pain, pressure, discomfort) perceived to be related to the urinary bladder, associated with lower urinary tract symptoms of more than six weeks duration, in the absence of infection or other identifiable causes". IC/BPS significantly impacts quality of life, with the individual domains of sexual function, anxiety and depression, sleep quality and work productivity being specifically affected. Significant sexual dysfunction in women with IC/BPS has been consistently demonstrated across multiple international studies, with a prevalence ranging from 68% to 91%. In fact, among all patients with lower urinary tract symptoms, patients with a diagnosis of IC/BPS had the highest levels of impaired sexual function, mostly due to dyspareunia. Recommended treatments for IC/BPS include dietary and behavioral modifications, oral medications, bladder instillations, bladder hydrodistension, intradetrusor injection of onabotulinumtoxinA and major surgery. Scant research exists on how treating IC/BPS affects sexual function. We are conducting a prospective cohort study to assess for improvement in sexual function following intravesical onabotulinumtoxinA injection versus conservative management for IC/BPS. The study will consist of three groups: intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injection, conservative management and age-matched, healthy controls. All patients aged 18 years and older presenting to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) Urogynecology clinic who are given a diagnosis of IC/BPS and have an O'Leary Sant index questionnaire scoring 13 or greater will be eligible for the study. The primary study outcome is change in the pre- and 12-week post-treatment Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). The secondary outcomes will include changes in the pre- and post-treatment O'Leary Sant index, Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I), Patient Global Impression of Severity (PGI-S), Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire, IUGA-Revised (PISQ-IR), Visual analog pain scale and 24-hour bladder diary (number of daily voids, number of nightly voids, incontinence episode). Adverse events will be monitored, including urinary tract infection or need for urinary catheterization due to urinary retention within 12 weeks of start of treatment. The age-matched, healthy control group will complete only one set of questionnaires to serve as a baseline comparison to the IC/BPS groups. For between-groups comparisons, a sample size of 49 per group will have 80% power to detect a clinically important difference of 4 points if the standard deviation is 7 points, assuming a 5% two-sided significance level. We will therefore recruit 55 subjects per group to allow for approximately 10% attrition between the pre- and post-treatment assessments. This study will be powered to detect a difference between treatments groups, which has not yet been reported in the literature.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if preoperative nerve block (quadratus lumborum \[QL\] block) works to improve pain control during and after laparoscopic hysterectomy. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does QL block decrease the amount of narcotic medication needed during surgery? Does QL block decrease the amount of narcotic medication needed after surgery? Researchers will compare QL block to local injection of a numbing medication at each incision site (the current standard practice) to see if QL block works to decrease surgical pain. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive one of the two following interventions: 1. QL block before surgery with a long-acting numbing medicine (liposomal bupivacaine) and then injection of placebo (saline) at each incision site in the operating room. 2. QL block before surgery with placebo (saline) and then injection of local numbing medicine (bupivacaine) at each incision site in the operating room. Participants will also: * Visit the clinic/hospital for a pre-operative appointment, the surgical procedure, and a 4-6 week post-operative appointment (all standard visits even if not participating in research) * Complete a questionnaire electronically, or by phone, that takes \<10 minutes at the pre-operative appointment and on postoperative days 1, 3, 5, 14, and 4-6 weeks.

A single site, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial for postmenopausal women with urinary frequency, urgency, nocturia with or without urgency urinary incontinence symptoms. Patient's will be randomized between 0.01% vaginal estradiol cream with placebo oral pill or daily 50 milligrams oral Mirabegron with a placebo vaginal cream for 12 weeks.

This protocol studies the clinical outcome of patients with active thyroid disease with visually significant signs and symptoms of proptosis, pain, diplopiam lid/orbital edema, or lid/orbital erythema recommended for treatment with teprotumumab infusion (Tepezza®). Patients recommended for treatment will be evaluated by an oculoplastic surgeon (Dr. Eva Chou) and endocrinologist (Dr. Thanh Hoang).

OnabotulinumtoxinA is an effective treatment for both idiopathic and neurogenic overactive bladder and was FDA approved for this indication in 2013. The standard technique for injecting onabotulinumtoxinA into the detrusor is mixing 100 units of onabotulinumtoxinA into 10mL of injectable normal saline and injecting 20 sites with 0.5mL in the posterior wall of hte bladder for idiopathic overactive bladder and mixing 200 units into 30mL and injecting 30 sites with 1mL for neurogenic overactive bladder. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of a technique using a reduced number of injections with the same dosage of onabotulinumtoxinA to the standard technique. The hypothesis is that the reduced technique will not be inferior in terms of efficacy as the standard technique and that there will be a lower incidence of urinary tract infections and urinary retention requiring catheterization post-procedure.