There are about 13446 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Belgium. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
The use of wound drains after mastectomy is common practice in Belgium. However, placement of suction drainage has several disadvantages. Skin bacteria can enter via the drain and cause infection, or the drain itself can cause discomfort and a need for daily nursing. After drain removal, seroma is the most common complication following breast cancer surgery. Seromas are collections of serous fluid that frequently develop under the skin or in the axillary space formed after mastectomy and/or axillary lymph node dissection, resulting from surgical trauma to blood/lymphatic vessels and post-traumatic inflammation. Seroma formation can cause discomfort and limitations in shoulder function. Moreover, it is associated with surgical site infections, often requires treatment and increases healthcare consumption. Wound healing problems might be a cause of postponement of adjuvant therapy. The quilting suture technique, in which the skin is sutured to the pectoralis muscle and drain placement is not needed, may lead to a significant reduction of seroma with a decrease in the number of aspirations and surgical site infections. In this national multicentric study, we will compare mastectomy with placement of suction drains, a standard technique used in the vast majority of Belgian hospitals, with the new quilting suture technique without placement of suction drains. We will focus on 3 distinct primary outcomes: - Pain of the mastectomy area 6 months after surgery - Upper limb function 6 months after surgery - Cosmetic outcome scored by the patient 6 months after surgery. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the absence of long-term negative effects of the quilting suture technique on shoulder function, cosmetic outcome, and pain management.
The purpose of this study is to measure the benefit of adding abemaciclib to the chemotherapy, temozolomide, for newly diagnosed high-grade glioma following radiotherapy. Your participation could last approximately 11 months and possibly longer depending upon how you and your tumor respond.
This study aims to determine the safety and the recommended phase II dose of RYZ101 (actinium-225 labelled DOTA-octreotate (225Ac-DOTATATE)) in participants with refractory and relapsing multiple myeloma (MM) that have received at least 3 prior lines of myeloma therapy. Participants will be selected based on somatostatin receptor (SSTR) positivity assessed by gallium-68 labelled DOTA-octreotate (68Ga-DOTATATE) PET/CT. The response to 225Ac-DOTATATE therapy will also be assessed in the target study population.
This is a multicentre, prospective, randomized controlled trial that will investigate the role and performance of the 3rd generation resorbable magnesium scaffolds "DREAMS 3G" labeled under the name "Freesolve" vs contemporary biodegradable polymer scaffolds in non ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes. Patients fulfilling the eligibility criteria will be enrolled and undergo PCI with either Freesolve or Orsiro platforms for the culprit lesion only. They will be followed-up for 12 months (1, 6 and 12 months). The primary endopoint will be Target Lesion Failure as defined by ARC definitions.
At discharge after a hospitalization, many older people are not as able as before their hospital stay and have difficulty performing their daily activities at home. For example, washing and dressing themselves, housework or shopping are often more difficult after discharge from hospital. However, most older people do not receive any support in regaining their physical status and self-reliance. As a result, they often need permanent help from informal or professional caregivers. Their quality of life is also impacted and they have an increased risk of new hospital admissions. Rehabilitation centers and hospital rehabilitation wards help the elderly to regain their daily functioning, but the number of places is very limited. This means that support for home rehabilitation is necessary for the vast majority of older people (almost 82,000 people per year). However, most of the time there is no support for home rehabilitation and the effect of such home rehabilitation programs has been little studied. Although studies show that home rehabilitation can improve physical functioning, the effect on impairments in daily activities and the quality of life of older people are not clear. In a future multicenter RCT, the investigators want to study whether training and guidance by a physiotherapist contributes to the recovery of older people after discharge from hospital. Patients will either receive standard care after hospitalization discharge, or intensive guidance from a physiotherapist. The patients guided by the physiotherapist are trained and supervised three times a week, for six weeks, to improve their muscle strength, balance, walking and mobility. The aim of the intensive home rehabilitation program is that the individual benefits from it in the longer term. Therefore, whether individuals who received the program are less limited in their daily functioning than those who did not receive the intensive rehabilitation program is checked after six months. In addition, the quality of life, physical functioning and healthcare costs for these two groups are also compared. To ensure that the study is feasible, a small pilot study will first be performed. Here, the aim is to assess the feasibility of recruitment (screening and retaining participants, reasons for refusal and participant profiles), study procedures and intervention. This includes time registration by the study team and physiotherapists, assessment of study burden and experiences with the execution of the protocol. The findings of this pilot study will help deciding about progressing to a future definitive RCT.
The aim of the study is to collect data in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) aged between 7 and 17 years for analyses of the gait pattern while walking at the Gait Real-time Analysis Interactive Lab (GRAIL) at the university hospital of Ghent. Children with DCD will be asked to take a motor test (M-ABC-2) as well as walk on the treadmill during a single session of approximately 3 hours. The following data will be collected on the GRAIL while subjects walk at different gait speeds: 3D kinematics, kinetics, and EMG. Additionally, 3D kinematics, kinetics, and EMG data will be collected when performing either a cognitive (Stroop Color and Word Test) or motor (requiring arm swing) dual-task while walking at comfortable walking speed..
Biologics are effective agents for the treatment of psoriasis. The newest generation of biologics block interleukin 17 and 23. Physicians always prescribe these drugs in a fixed dose, but this may lead to under- and overdosing in some patients. Underdosing may lead to inadequate response or loss of response over time. Overdosage, on the other hand, can lead to higher risk of side effects and higher costs for the healthcare system. In daily clinical practice, physicians often tackle this real-world issue by blind trial- and- error dose modifications or switching to another biologic. In this study, we want to rationalize these dose modifications and optimize dosing based on the drug concentrations, measured in the blood of the patient (i.e. therapeutic drug monitoring). Depending on the drug concentration, the interval between injections will be lengthened or shortened with the aim to reach the required drug concentration to reach the best clinical result. The trial will be conducted in 14 Belgian hospitals where patients will be divided into 2 study groups: a group that will be advised on the dosing scheme of their biologic based on the measured drug concentration and a group that continues dosing as in daily clinical practice. We will monitor if the clinical response and quality of life remains stable. With this study, we will track drug concentrations as we believe that they can guide dosing of biologics and we hope to achieve better safety, lower healthcare expenses and higher patients' treatment satisfaction while striving for the best clinical response.
The focus of this interventional study is to assess the feasibility of blood flow restriction training (BFRT) in a geriatric stroke population. Patients will undergo a 4-week program of BFRT additionally to our standard physiotherapy, conducted twice weekly by experienced physiotherapists. The main goal of the study is to assess its feasibility concerning the safety and tolerance of BFRT from a patients and therapists scope. Furthermore, the investigators want to establish the proportion of eligible individuals & their willingness to undergo BFRT, as well as the time investment. The feasibility of an effectiveness study and potential sample size will be evaluated aside.
This study looks into how a common breast cancer treatment, paclitaxel, can sometimes cause severe side effects that make it hard for patients to continue treatment. These side effects can significantly affect a patient's quality of life and even impact their recovery and overall health costs. What's interesting about this research is that it considers how a patient's lifestyle, specifically their physical activity levels and body makeup (like how much muscle and fat they have), might influence these side effects. The researchers are doing a detailed study with 40 women receiving paclitaxel treatment, tracking how the drug is processed in their bodies and how their body composition and physical activity might play a role in the side effects they experience. They are using a special method to monitor drug levels in the blood and are also keeping tabs on the patients' health and physical activity through questionnaires and modern tracking devices. The goal here is twofold: first, to better understand why these side effects happen to some people and not others, and second, to develop a model that can predict who might be at higher risk for these side effects based on their body composition, lifestyle, and how their body handles the drug. This could lead to more personalized treatment plans that could help reduce the risk of severe side effects and improve the overall treatment experience for patients with breast cancer. In simpler terms, this research is trying to find a way to make breast cancer treatment with paclitaxel safer and more comfortable by considering how a person's lifestyle and body type might affect their reaction to the drug. This could make a big difference in helping patients complete their treatment successfully and with a better quality of life.
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two ablation techniques to treat patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm). An ablation is a procedure during which some scars are made on the inside of the heart to break up the electrical signals that cause the irregular heartbeat. In this trial researchers will compare a new technique, which uses tiny electric shocks to make the scars, to the standard technique, which uses heat. The main question the trial aims to answer is: • Does the new technique work as well as the standard technique to prevent the irregular heartbeat from returning within one year of the procedure? Participants will: - Undergo an ablation with either the new or the standard technique - Visit the hospital 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after the procedure for a check-up - Wear a device to register their heart rhythm for 24 hours before the 3 month visit and for 72 hours before the 6, 9 and 12 month visit - Record their heart rhythm at home every week - Complete a questionnaire 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after the procedure