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Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

NCT number NCT03634670
Other study ID # 01/2018
Secondary ID
Status Completed
Phase
First received
Last updated
Start date January 9, 2018
Est. completion date June 30, 2020

Study information

Verified date October 2020
Source Technische Universität München
Contact n/a
Is FDA regulated No
Health authority
Study type Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Due to its high prevalence and the substantial individual and socio-economic burden chronic pain is a huge challenge for patients, physicians and the society. Using neuroimaging structural and functional alterations have been described in the brain of patients suffering from chronic pain (Apkarian, Hashmi et al. 2011, Baliki and Apkarian 2015). However, reproducibility and functional significance of these changes are only incompletely understood. For example it remains unclear, if these changes covariate with clinical parameters and if they can be influenced or reversed by appropriate therapy. Some of the structural and functional brain changes in chronic pain patients have been shown to be reversible using magnetic resonance imaging after successful interventional pain treatment (Seminowicz, Wideman et al. 2011) or cognitive-behavioral therapy (Seminowicz, Shpaner et al. 2013, Shpaner, Kelly et al. 2014). Interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy (IMPT) as a biopsychosocial treatment approach comprising physiotherapy and psychotherapy in structured programs has been shown to be effective in alleviating chronic pain of different entities including those where interventional therapy options are lacking or have been unsuccessful (Kaiser, Treede et al. 2017). The present study aims to investigate the influence of a structured IMPT approach provided in a day-clinic program of 20 treatment days on the functional brain network structure in chronic pain patients. To this end, a graph-theory based analysis (Bullmore and Sporns 2009) will be applied to electroencephalography (EEG) resting-state data from 30 chronic pain patients before and after IMPT and results will be correlated with behavioral and clinical data. In this observational study chronic pain patients that have been screened for participation in IMPT as part of routine medical care are invited to participate in a baseline visit prior to participation and a follow-up visit 6 months after completion of the program.

This will add to a better understanding of the complex functional brain alterations in chronic pain and might contribute to identify neuronal markers or even predictors for therapeutic responses in multimodal pain treatments. Moreover, the broad availability and easy applicability of EEG-measurements might enable a wide therapeutic application of potential findings in the near future.


Recruitment information / eligibility

Status Completed
Enrollment 41
Est. completion date June 30, 2020
Est. primary completion date June 30, 2020
Accepts healthy volunteers No
Gender All
Age group 18 Years and older
Eligibility Inclusion Criteria:

- Chronic pain (duration >6 months, not primary headache disease)

- Willing and able to comply with physical (e.g. able to get up from the floor without help) and psychological (e.g. motivation for behavioural change) requirements of the IMPT-day-clinic setting as assessed by a physician, psychologist and physiotherapist on a screening visit as part of routine medical care prior to participation

- Willing and able to sign informed consent for study participation

Exclusion Criteria:

- Recent change in chronic pain condition (e.g. surgery or injury within the last 3 months)

- Concomitant neurological or psychiatric disease apart from Depression (especially severe mental disorder or psychopathology)

- Regular (daily) intake of benzodiazepines

- Addiction problems

Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms

  • Chronic Pain
  • Chronic Pain, Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Therapy, Electroencephalography, Functional Connectivity

Intervention

Other:
Interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy (IMPT)
The IMPT-program is provided in a specialized day-clinic setting over a period of 20 treatment days. There are two different treatment programs with either 5 days per week over a period of 4 weeks or 3 days per week over a period of 7 weeks. IMPT comprises individual pharmacotherapy evaluated in regular consultations with a physician as well as a structured physiotherapy and psychotherapy programs on group level and individual level. Group physiotherapy comprises exercise therapy, movement experience and relaxation techniques. Additionally individual physiotherapy is provided in two extra sessions focusing on the individual needs and problems of the patient. Group psychotherapy comprises educational contents (e.g. pathophysiology and biopsychosocial aspects of pain) as well as cognitive-behavioral-interventions e.g. regarding stress-management. Additionally individual psychotherapy is provided in four extra sessions focusing on the individual needs and problems of the patient.

Locations

Country Name City State
Germany Department of Neurology, Center for Interdisciplinary Pain Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, TUM Munich Bavaria

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor Collaborator
Technische Universität München German Research Foundation, Technical University of Munich, Center for Interdisciplinary Pain Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Faculty of Medicine

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

References & Publications (11)

Apkarian AV, Hashmi JA, Baliki MN. Pain and the brain: specificity and plasticity of the brain in clinical chronic pain. Pain. 2011 Mar;152(3 Suppl):S49-64. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2010.11.010. Epub 2010 Dec 13. Review. — View Citation

Baliki MN, Apkarian AV. Nociception, Pain, Negative Moods, and Behavior Selection. Neuron. 2015 Aug 5;87(3):474-91. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.06.005. Review. — View Citation

Beck, A.T., Steer, R.A., & Brown, G.K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Bullmore E, Sporns O. Complex brain networks: graph theoretical analysis of structural and functional systems. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Mar;10(3):186-98. doi: 10.1038/nrn2575. Epub 2009 Feb 4. Review. Erratum in: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Apr;10(4):312. — View Citation

Freynhagen R, Baron R, Gockel U, Tölle TR. painDETECT: a new screening questionnaire to identify neuropathic components in patients with back pain. Curr Med Res Opin. 2006 Oct;22(10):1911-20. — View Citation

Kaiser U, Treede RD, Sabatowski R. Multimodal pain therapy in chronic noncancer pain-gold standard or need for further clarification? Pain. 2017 Oct;158(10):1853-1859. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000902. — View Citation

Melzack R. The short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Pain. 1987 Aug;30(2):191-7. — View Citation

Nagel B, Gerbershagen HU, Lindena G, Pfingsten M. [Development and evaluation of the multidimensional German pain questionnaire]. Schmerz. 2002 Aug;16(4):263-70. German. — View Citation

Seminowicz DA, Shpaner M, Keaser ML, Krauthamer GM, Mantegna J, Dumas JA, Newhouse PA, Filippi CG, Keefe FJ, Naylor MR. Cognitive-behavioral therapy increases prefrontal cortex gray matter in patients with chronic pain. J Pain. 2013 Dec;14(12):1573-84. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2013.07.020. Epub 2013 Oct 14. — View Citation

Seminowicz DA, Wideman TH, Naso L, Hatami-Khoroushahi Z, Fallatah S, Ware MA, Jarzem P, Bushnell MC, Shir Y, Ouellet JA, Stone LS. Effective treatment of chronic low back pain in humans reverses abnormal brain anatomy and function. J Neurosci. 2011 May 18;31(20):7540-50. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5280-10.2011. — View Citation

Shpaner M, Kelly C, Lieberman G, Perelman H, Davis M, Keefe FJ, Naylor MR. Unlearning chronic pain: A randomized controlled trial to investigate changes in intrinsic brain connectivity following Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Neuroimage Clin. 2014 Jul 23;5:365-76. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2014.07.008. eCollection 2014. — View Citation

* Note: There are 11 references in allClick here to view all references

Outcome

Type Measure Description Time frame Safety issue
Other Change from baseline functional cerebral connectivity as assessed by resting-state Electroencephalography (EEG) at 6 months 64-Channel-EEG resting state measurements and Graph-theory based analysis of frequency bands (gamma, beta, alpha, theta, delta) on sensor and source level including degree centrality, clustering coefficient, global efficiency, small-worldness, modularity und global hub disruption index Measured at baseline and 6 months post treatment
Primary Change from baseline visual analogue scale (VAS) ratings of pain intensity at 6 months Pain rating for average Pain intensity within the last 4 weeks on the VAS ranging from 0=no pain to 10=worst imaginable pain Measured at baseline and at 6 months post treatment
Secondary Change from baseline Pain related disability / Quality of life / Depression / Pain characteristics at 6 months Metrics assessed using the German Pain Questionnaire (Nagel, Gerbershagen et al. 2002), short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (Melzack 1987), Beck Depression Inventory II (Beck et al 1986), painDETECT Questionnaire (Freynhagen et al 2006) Measured at baseline and at 6 months post treatment