Intracutaneous Sterile Water Injections for Acute Low Back Pain in the Emergency Department

Low Back Pain Clinical Trial

Official title:

Intracutaneous Sterile Water Injections for Acute Low Back Pain in the Emergency Department: a Pilot Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Terminated

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04240483
• Other study ID #: FWH20200050H
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 27, 2020
• Est. completion date: February 8, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: January 2022
• Source: Mike O'Callaghan Military Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of intracutaneous sterile water injections (ISWI) for treatment of acute low back pain in patients presenting to the emergency department. The primary aim is to determine if ISWI provides pain relief for acute low back pain in the ED. The secondary aim is to evaluate whether ISWI provides improved patient satisfaction in the ED setting. The hypothesis is that ISWI will improve pain amongst patients presenting with acute low back pain to the ED.

Description:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of intracutaneous sterile water injections (ISWI) for treatment of acute low back pain in patients presenting to the emergency department. The primary aim is to determine if ISWI provides pain relief for acute low back pain in the ED. The secondary aim is to evaluate whether ISWI provides improved patient satisfaction in the ED setting. The hypothesis is that ISWI will improve pain amongst patients presenting with acute low back pain to the ED.

This pilot study will use a randomized controlled trial design to compare the effects of ISWI to intracutaneous dry injections in patients presenting to the ED with acute low back pain.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Terminated
• Enrollment: 6
• Est. completion date: February 8, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: February 8, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 64 Years

Eligibility

**Patients must be able to get care at Nellis Air Force Base (a military installation) in order to participate in this study**

Inclusion Criteria:

• Active Duty and DoD Beneficiaries aged 18 to 64 years.

• Presenting to the ED with a chief complaint of acute low back pain of less than 2 weeks in duration.

• Pain severity on presentation of greater than or equal to 5/10 on Visual Analogue Scale.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Traumatic low back pain

• New weakness or neurologic deficit

• New loss bowel/bladder control

• Back pain above T12

• Active cancer

• Currently taking anticoagulant medications

• Signs of infection or trauma over the injection site

• Non-English speaking

• Pregnancy

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Back Pain
• Emergencies
• Infertility
• Low Back Pain

Intervention

Other:
• Intracutaneous sterile water injections (ISWI) group
ISWI consists of 4 intracutaneous injections of 0.5 ml sterile water in the lumbosacral region while patient is in a seated position. One injection given at the posterior superior iliac spine (Point 1) on both sides and second injection at 1 cm medial, and 1-2 cm inferior to the first point on both the sides (Point 2) using an insulin needle. These points overlie the area called Michaelis' rhomboid.
• Intracutaneous dry injections (IDI) group
Intracutaneous dry injections will be performed in the same manner described above, however, no sterile water or alternative solutions will be injected into the sites.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Mike O'Callaghan Military Medical Center	Nellis Air Force Base	Nevada

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Lindsey schmelzer

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (7)

Byrn C, Olsson I, Falkheden L, Lindh M, Hösterey U, Fogelberg M, Linder LE, Bunketorp O. Subcutaneous sterile water injections for chronic neck and shoulder pain following whiplash injuries. Lancet. 1993 Feb 20;341(8843):449-52. — View Citation

Cui JZ, Geng ZS, Zhang YH, Feng JY, Zhu P, Zhang XB. Effects of intracutaneous injections of sterile water in patients with acute low back pain: a randomized, controlled, clinical trial. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2016 Mar;49(3). pii: S0100-879X2016000300704. doi: 10.1590/1414-431X20155092. Epub 2016 Feb 2. — View Citation

Genç Koyucu R, Demirci N, Ender Yumru A, Salman S, Ayanoglu YT, Tosun Y, Tayfur C. Effects of Intradermal Sterile Water Injections in Women with Low Back Pain in Labor: A Randomized, Controlled, Clinical Trial. Balkan Med J. 2018 Mar 15;35(2):148-154. doi: 10.4274/balkanmedj.2016.0879. Epub 2017 Oct 26. — View Citation

Hosseininejad SM, Emami Zeydi A. Can intracutaneous sterile water injection be used as a possible treatment for acute renal colic pain in the emergency department? A short literature review. Urol Ann. 2015 Jan-Mar;7(1):130-2. doi: 10.4103/0974-7796.148669. — View Citation

Mårtensson LB, Hutton EK, Lee N, Kildea S, Gao Y, Bergh I. Sterile water injections for childbirth pain: An evidenced based guide to practice. Women Birth. 2018 Oct;31(5):380-385. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2017.12.001. Epub 2017 Dec 11. — View Citation

S, Valarmathy, and Josephine Hema j. "Intracutaneous sterile water injection over sacrum for the relief of low back pain in labour." Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, vol. 7, no. 28, 2018, pp. 3151-54, doi:10.14260/jemds/2018/709

Skinner, Virginia, et al. "Sterile Water Injections for Relief of Back Pain in Labour - a Qualitative Study." Women and Birth, vol. 31, Oct. 2018, p. S50. ScienceDirect, doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2018.08.149

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Pain severity on 11-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)	Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.; In this case the scale is accompanied by the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale. Min pain score is 0, max pain score is 10. Lower scores mean a better outcome and higher scores mean greater pain severity.	pre-treatment
Primary	Pain severity on 11-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)	Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.; In this case the scale is accompanied by the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale. Min pain score is 0, max pain score is 10. Lower scores mean a better outcome and higher scores mean greater pain severity.	10 minutes post treatment
Primary	Pain severity on 11-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)	Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.; In this case the scale is accompanied by the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale. Min pain score is 0, max pain score is 10. Lower scores mean a better outcome and higher scores mean greater pain severity.	30 minutes post treatment
Secondary	Satisfaction score on 11-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)	Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.; In this case the VAS is a horizontal line ranging from left to right for unsatisfied to highly satisfied. Min pain score is 0, max pain score is 10.	30 minutes post treatment

External Links

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