View clinical trials related to Spinal Cord Injuries.
Filter by:To assess the level of improvement in voiding function after lumbar to sacral ventral nerve re-routing procedure in Spinal Cord Injury and spina bifida patients
The purpose of the research is to determine whether we can get harmless bacteria to live in the bladders of persons with spinal cord injury who practice intermittent bladder catheterization. We will also look at whether having the harmless bacteria in the bladder prevents urinary tract infections from occurring.
The investigators want to know if placing a tube through the skin and into the colon to flush out the colon is safe and effective in helping spinal cord Veterans with bowel management.
The goal of this project is to evaluate the Smart Wheelchair Component System (SWCS) for power wheelchairs and the Smart Power Assistance Module (SPAM) for manual wheelchairs in realistic indoor environments with target users performing realistic tasks. We will combine group trials involving individuals who have a visual impairment (but do not have a mobility impairment) with several single-case studio involving individuals who have a visual and mobility impairment. Our long-term objective is to provide independent mobility to veterans with mobility and sensory impairments.
The purpose of this study is to modify and develop measures that reflect outcomes that are relevant to recovering Veterans and are sensitive to improvements resulting from innovative gait interventions.
As clinicians, it is often a struggle to find effective pain control for a certain subgroup of patients with tetraplegia. These patients often have severe upper back, neck, and shoulder pain, limiting rehabilitation productivity and potential, and always limiting quality of life. This pain appears to be primarily musculoskeletal. Muscles in the upper back and neck become shortened, rock hard, and extremely tender with even the slightest touch or stretch. Refractory to multiple classes of medications, modalities, and other treatments, patients truly suffer-not only from pain, but from fatigue, sedation, expense, and loss of useful rehabilitation time due to attempted remedies. Unfortunately, this subgroup of patients is not small and the problem is significant, as anyone who specializes in the treatment of spinal cord injury patients will recognize. In search for another form of treatment, botulinum toxin A (BTXA) may be promising for pain control in that group of patients with tetraplegia whose pain has proven to be refractory to treatment. It did not take long searching the literature to find compelling evidence that BTXA may have another mechanism of action for direct pain control, apart from its well known mechanism for spasticity control. Clinically, it is increasingly being recommended and used for this purpose. In fact, one of the specific indications now recognized by most for BTXA treatment is for myogenic pain due to short, tight, strained muscles-just as we see with our population. Yet, it's application has not been studied in people with tetraplegia. Thus, the genesis of the project and the hope to help our patients evolved. Study hypotheses: - In addition to traditional treatments used for pain control, injection of BTXA into cervical and upper back muscles will effectively reduce cervical/shoulder pain severity reported by individuals with cervical spinal cord injuries, regardless of the etiology of pain. - Pain reduction secondary to the use of BTXA will be associated with a decrease in total analgesic medication use among SCI patients during acute inpatient rehabilitation. - BTXA to treat cervical/shoulder pain will increase active participation in the rehabilitation program for individuals with tetraplegia during inpatient rehabilitation.
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common infection in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and is linked to major undesired results or complications including death. The bladder of SCI patients, especially those with indwelling catheters, is usually colonized by bacteria, some of which do and others which do not cause symptoms of UTI. Bacteria that do not cause symptoms are often called benign colonizers and are often left untreated because they may provide some protection against infection with more harmful bacteria. This idea of using benign bacteria to prevent infections with symptoms is called bacterial interference. A prototype strain, Escherichia coli 83972, was shown to begin and continue for extended periods of time non symptom causing colonization of the human bladder and to hold back symptom causing infections of the neurogenic bladder. Data from pilot studies at two medical centers indicated that bacterial interference might be a useful therapy for reducing the rate or frequency of UTI in SCI patients. Because almost all SCI patients have a UTI at some time, and also the large costs of treating this infection, studying the impact of bladder colonization with E. coli 83972 on the rate of symptom causing UTI has an amazing potential for improving the quality of life of SCI patients and decreasing the cost of health care. Like with other preventive plans such as vaccination, for instance, it is important to explore the effectiveness of this new preventive approach. The project is a prospective, randomized, double blind, multi-center study that deals with specific pieces of bacterial interference in SCI patients. HYPOTHESES: Placing non symptom causing bacteria (E. coli 83972) into SCI patients' bladders reduces the rate of symptom causing UTI. A. SPECIFIC AIM: Determine how bladder colonization with E. coli 83972 or similar bacteria affects the rate of symptom causing urinary tract infections in a large group of SCI and Spina Bifida patients by conducting a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center clinical trial.
Regular exercise is strongly recommended to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, children and young adults with damaged spinal cords may not be able to exercise regularly. However, there is an exercise bike specially designed for persons with damaged spinal cords that enables them to pedal by directly stimulating the muscles in their legs. Our study is designed to determine the benefits of exercise for Spinal Cord Injured (SCI) patients using this bike.
The study aims to compare a newly developed system for transanal colonic irrigation (Peristeen Anal Irrigation) with a bowel management regime that does not include irrigation in a prospective, randomized trial in spinal cord lesion patients (SCL- patients) with faecal incontinence and/or constipation. Population; 80 SCL- patients with faecal incontinence and/or constipation from five countries. Focus on: Bowel symptom score Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction score Symptom related quality of life questionnaire Time expenditure for performance of bowel care ans side effects
The purpose of this proposal was to evaluate and compare the health benefits of using upper extremity exercise versus functional electrical stimulation for lower extremity exercise. It was our hypothesis that both Functional Electrical Stimulation Leg Cycle Ergometry (FES LCE) exercise and voluntary Arm Crank Ergometry (ACE) upper extremity exercise would increase whole body energy expenditure, thereby increasing muscle mass, insulin sensitivity, glucose effectiveness and improving lipid profiles in adults with paraplegia.