View clinical trials related to Spinal Cord Injuries.
Filter by:People with tetraplegia often retain some level of mobility of the upper body. The proposed study will test the hypothesis that it is possible to develop personalized interfaces, which utilize the residual mobility to enable paralyzed persons to control computers, wheelchairs and other assistive devices. If successful the project will result into the establishment of a new family of human-machine interfaces based on wearable sensors that adapt their functions to their users' abilities.
With improved life expectancy over the last fifty years, spina bifida has become a disease of the adult. One of the major stakes for these patients is the preservation of a regular follow-up of uro-nephrologicals risk factors and of a respect for the rules of self management of their neurological bladder. The main objective of this study is to highlight a difference in the level of global self-esteem among a population of adult patients with spina bifida and a population of adult patients with traumatic spinal cord injury gained the same level of neurological.
A study to investigate the effects of sublingual cannabis based medicine extracts on neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury.
The purpose of this prospective study is to investigate the association between the amount of residual urine and asymptomatic bacterial prostate infection with the occurrence of recurrent (>2 /year) symptomatic urinary tract infections in patients suffering from chronic (> 1 year) spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction performing intermittent catheterization. The following hypotheses will be tested: 1. The amount of residual urine after intermittent catheterization is significantly greater in SCI patients suffering from frequent (>2 /year) urinary tract infections compared to those without. 2. The incidence of asymptomatic bacterial prostate infections is significantly higher in SCI patients suffering from frequent (>2 /year) urinary tract infections compared to those without.
Prospective evaluation of the cognitive function of in-house patients suffering from an acute traumatic spinal cord injury before and three months after the initiation of antimuscarinic treatment. The following hypothesis will be tested: Antimuscarinic treatment results in significantly worse cognitive test results three months after traumatic spinal cord injury compared to the pre-treatment results and the results of the control group.
The purpose of this study is to see the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the pain associated with spinal cord injury. This study is part of the Spaulding-Harvard Model System. The investigators hypothesize that there will be a decrease in pain levels with active stimulation, when compared to sham stimulation, using a 3 week stimulation schedule- 1 week of stimulation (5 consecutive days) followed by 2 weeks of stimulation (10 consecutive days) after a 3-month follow up visit. The subject will also have follow ups at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the second course of stimulation. If a subject receives sham during the experiment, he/she may enroll in an open-label portion of the study and receive 10 days of active stimulation.
Following spinal cord injury (SCI), the body loses normal control of blood pressure and heart rate, and there is a risk of sudden and dangerous increases in blood pressure, namely, autonomic dysreflexia (AD). It is important to be aware of baseline blood pressures and heart rates in individuals in order to detect AD. However, baseline values vary in developing children, and may be more variable in children with SCI. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine baseline blood pressure and heart rate measurements in children with SCI during rest and during urodynamic testing. The investigators hypothesize that 1) blood pressures will increase with increasing age and body mass index; 2) heart rate will decrease with increasing age; 3) blood pressures will increase with increase in bladder filling; 4) blood pressures will increase will increase with increasing duration of injury.
The aim of this study is to evaluate efficacy and safety of riluzole in the treatment of patients with acute SCI. The primary objective is to evaluate the superiority of riluzole, at a dose of 2 x 100 mg the first 24 hours followed by 2 x 50 mg for the following 13 days after injury, as compared to placebo, in change between 180 days and baseline in motor outcomes as measured by International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury Examination (ISNCSCI) Motor Score, in patients with acute traumatic SCI, presenting to the hospital less than 12 hours after injury. Secondary objectives are to evaluate the effects of riluzole on overall neurologic recovery, sensory recovery, functional outcomes, quality of life outcomes, health utilities, mortality, and adverse events. The working hypothesis is that the riluzole treated subjects will experience superior motor, sensory, functional, and quality of life outcomes as compared to those receiving placebo, with an acceptable safety profile.
After spinal cord injury, patients develop a spastic syndrome that is characterized by hyperactive reflexes, increased muscle tone, clonus and involuntary muscle spasms. The neuronal mechanisms behind the development of spasticity remain largely unknown, though animal experiments have shown that changes occur both at the level of the motoneuron and sensory neurons. This project aims to examine the changes that occur in the modulation of sensory afferent transmission after spinal cord injury, and how these changes can contribute to the triggering and initiation of muscle spasms after chronic spinal cord injury in humans. It is known that after spinal cord injury, the majority of descending sources of monoamines, such as serotonin (5HT), are abolished. Animal experiments have shown that 5HT receptors on sensory neurons in the spinal cord are responsible for inhibiting sensory transmission. As a result, after spinal cord injury these receptors are no longer activated below an injury, resulting in the production of large, long excitatory responses in the motoneuron when sensory are activated. This large sensory activation of the motoneuron can, in turn, activate a long response in the motoneuron to produce an involuntary muscle spasm. The aim of our study is to determine whether, similar to animal experiments, the 5HT1 receptors are responsible for sensory inhibition in spinal cord injured subjects, and whether activating these receptors (through the 5HT1 agonist Zolmitriptan) will restore the normal inhibition of sensory transmission that is lost after injury, thereby resulting in a decrease in the initiation of involuntary muscle spasms.
The cervical spine is most commonly injured, accounting for 53.4% of spinal injuries. More than 40% of all spinal injuries occur at either C4, C5 or C6 levels leading to variable loss of function in the upper extremities. Traditionally, patients sustaining a cervical spine injury were followed for 2 years to ensure that recovery had stabilized before offering upper extremity reconstruction. This type of reconstruction includes active muscle transfer, tendon transfer and joint fusion. Patients are most commonly assessed immediately at the time of injury. Muscle testing is commonly performed using Medical Research Grading System (MRC). Although complete neurologic stabilization may not be complete until 2 years post-injury, in the group with initial grade 0 muscle strength after the acute phase of injury, expectations of improved muscle strength to or beyond grade 3 after 4-6 months is minimal. And grade 3 muscle strength is felt to be the minimum useful functional strength in a muscle group. The investigators propose an early nerve reconstruction approach to the tetraplegic patient with dysfunction of the upper extremity to augment the available tendon transfers. A comparative pilot study is proposed to determine the effectiveness of supinator branch to posterior interosseous nerve (PIN) transfer in 5 patients with cervical spine injury. Patient who fits inclusion criteria will be offered the opportunity to be involved in the study and reviewed at 6 months from injury. If the patient still has not regained Grade 3 power in finger or thumb extension, they will be randomized to be in a surgical group or non-surgical group. If informed consent is obtained, then surgery will be completed between 6-9 months from the patient's original cervical spine injury. The patient will be followed at regular intervals post-operatively with expectation of 18-24 month follow-up. Measures will be used pre and post-operatively for comparison. Measures will include MRC muscle grade (EDC), range of motion, Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (DASH), and The Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength Sensibility and Prehension (GRASSP) (Kalsi-Ryan, 2011).