View clinical trials related to Spinal Cord Injuries.
Filter by:The aim of this investigation is to study how the position of different catheters affect drainage of the bladder.
Ambulation would bring many physiological and psychological benefits and getting up and walking has been a dream for paraplegia patients.The reciprocating gait orthoses (RGOs) for paraplegics particularly draws research attentions because it mimics human gait pattern.But, the high energy consumption and low walking speeds caused the frequent abandonment or the low utilization of the reciprocating gait orthoses.To improve the design reducing the energy expenditure, it requires biomechanical analysis of the pathological gait such that the gait deviations and energy consuming mechanisms can be identified and remedial means can be implemented. The investigators hypotheses will include that there would exist an energy saving mechanism of human reciprocating locomotion based on the principle of conservation of mechanical energy.Secondly, kinematic and kinetic gait determinants could be derived from the energy saving mechanism. Finally, the control of knee joint coordinating with the hip joint movements would facilitate the gait progression and further reduce the energy consumption. The objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate the gait of paraplegic patients with reciprocating gait orthoses and to support the investigators research in biomechanical analysis, design and control of reciprocating gait orthoses for paraplegia patients. An experiment to study the pathological gait of paraplegia patients with an existing reciprocating gait orthosis will be carried out.
People with spinal cord injuries (SCI) are among the least physically active groups in our society. Approximately 1 in 4 healthy young persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) does not have sufficient fitness to perform many essential activities of daily living. About 50% of people with SCI engage in no leisure time physical activity. That is, they do not wheel or walk for pleasure, don't play a sport, don't exercise at home or go to a gym. As a result of this, cardiovascular, endocrine and metabolic conditions adversely affect the health of a large segment of the SCI population. Fortunately, clinic and/or laboratory-based aerobic conditioning and circuit training studies provide compelling evidence that people with SCI can improve their cardiorespiratory fitness and by doing so can partially reverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, enhance Quality of Life (QOL) and improve elements of subjective well-being. While intensive, clinic-based, supervised exercise programs can improve the fitness and health of persons with SCI, the value of these findings for the SCI population is limited because the vast majority of people do not have access to these specialized programs and facilities. The gap that the present study addresses is: How can we extend the benefits of increased exercise and physical activity to more people with SCI? The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of an individually tailored, home- or community-based, telephone delivered intervention that uses evidence-based behavioral and motivational counseling to increase daily physical activity and exercise.
This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind 4x4 crossover clinical trial was part of a larger NIH-funded study to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of multiple dose-combinations of chronic oral (PO) dextromethorphan and intravenous (IV) lidocaine in central neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury.
Spasticity is the most problematic self-reported secondary medical problem in patients with spinal cord injury. It has the potential to negatively influence quality of life through restricting activities of daily living. Problematic spasticity can cause pain and fatigue, disturb sleep, contribute to the developement of contractures and pressure ulcers, and has a negative effect on patients morbidity. For this reason there is enormous interest in therapeutic interventions addressing to decrease spasticity in persons with spinal cord injury. Recently, studies reported positive effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy on spasticity in patients with stroke, focal limb dystonia and cerebral palsy. To date, no studies are published, assessing the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy on focal spasticity in patients with spinal cord injury. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a one-time ESWT on lower limb spasticity in patients with an incomplete spinal cord injury.
This study will evaluate the Indego® device for safety and effectiveness at allowing persons with SCI who are non-ambulatory or poorly ambulatory to stand up and walk under a variety of conditions.
People with spinal cord injury (SCI) suffer from secondary health conditions that can result in undue physical challenges and impact participation in activities in everyday life. Locomotor Training (LT) has been shown to demonstrate improvements in balance and walking function in both the animal and humans by reactivating spinal circuits through intensive therapy of muscles below the level of the injury. However, it is not known if LT also has beneficial health effects and it is the focus of this study proposed to be undertaken at Stony Brook University (SBU) as the lead site. LT is thought to produce activation of spinal networks to help recover balance and walking after SCI and may correspond with improvements in health measures such as bladder function, breathing capacity, cholesterol and other cardiac risk factors markers, and the ability to stand upright without drops in blood pressure resulting in a sensation of dizziness. LT takes place on a treadmill with the body weight supported in a harness, while walking overground and with the practice of key exercises in the home and community. The emphasis is on loading the body through the legs without braces and other devices except where necessary to function at home. The overall objective of this study to capture and analyze health outcome data collected on 80 patients enrolled in the 7 NeuroRecovery Network (NRN) clinics in the USA who receive LT. The NRN is funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and the CDC to implement LT for people with SCI. The purpose of this application is to leverage the NRN funding, that provides support for LT and standardized outcome measures, to generate further knowledge on health outcomes after LT for individuals with SCI. The proposed project will be accomplished through the utilization of staff at each of the 6 NRN sites, lead by the study principal investigator and the lead clinical research coordinator at SBU. They will ensure the data are captured before and after LT in a standardized manner, at the correct time and entered into a de-identified database. The study hypotheses are that after LT, compared to before, patients with SCI will improve lipid profiles and insulin factors as measured by fasting blood tests; respiratory function as measured by specialized but easy to use breathing equipment; and blood pressure and heart rate during a maneuver to test for responses to abrupt changes in posture. The relevance of this proposal is that it will help to determine if there is an association between an intensive activity- based intervention (LT) and improvements in health and will be used to form the basis for a larger randomized clinical trial and clinical practice guidelines.
Compromised respiratory function as a result of tetraplegia leads to many tetraplegics requiring mechanical ventilation during the acute phase of injury. Mechanical ventilation is associated with additional costs to the local health care provider and reduced quality of life of the patient. Electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles has previously been used to improve the respiratory function of tetraplegic patients in the chronic stage of injury. In this study the investigators aim to evaluate whether electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles can assist the process of weaning from mechanical ventilation in acute ventilator dependent spinal cord injured patients.
The purpose of this study is to determine if the study Foley catheter with its patterned external surface can delay the time to the onset of urinary tract infection in spinal cord injury patients who are dependent on a Foley catheter for drainage of their urinary bladder.
The purpose of this study is to determine if a year of alendronate treatment will maintain or increase bone mass density (BMD) compared to baseline BMD values in people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). This study will also investigate 1) if alendronate therapy will increase bone strength in people with chronic SCI, 2) the number of participants with adverse events from alendronate, and 3) the effects of alendronate on serum markers of bone metabolism.