Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Visual Illusion on Chronic Pain Due to Spinal Cord Injury
TerminatedNot applicableNCT01404065
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) combined with watching a visual illusion on chronic pain due to spinal cord injury. The investigators hypothesize that active tDCS will reduce pain in subjects with spinal cord injury when compared to sham stimulation. The investigators will also measure changes in EEG data (alpha and beta frequencies) as well as motor cortex excitability.
Study details
- Official title
- Investigation of the Mechanisms of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of Motor Cortex Coupled With Visual Illusion for the Treatment of Chronic Pain in Spinal Cord Injury
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Procedure: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
- Sponsor
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
- Start date
- 2010-12
- Primary completion
- 2014-08
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 18 Years to 64 Years
- Healthy volunteers
- true
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- United States
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Inclusion Criteria: 1. Providing informed consent to participate in the study 2. 18 to 64 years old 3. With traumatic spinal cord injury (complete or incomplete) - for instance, due to fall, car accident or gun shot; (for spinal cord injury only) 4. Stable chronic pain for at least the three preceding months (for spinal cord injury only) 5. Score higher or equal to 4cm (0 cm= 'no pain' and 10cm='worst possible pain') on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain perception at the baseline/start of the treatment (for spinal cord injury only) 6. Refractoriness to drugs for pain relief - such as tricyclic antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs and/or narcotics (pain resistant to at least 2 of these drugs supplied in adequate dosages for six months) (for spinal cord injury only) 7. Pain is not attributable to other causes, such as peripheral inflammation Exclusion Criteria: 1. Clinically significant or unstable medical or psychiatric disorder 2. History of substance abuse 3. Neuropsychiatric comorbidities, including: Documented traumatic brain injury (TBI), defined as damage to brain tissue caused by an external mechanical force as evidenced by: loss of consciousness due to brain trauma, or post traumatic amnesia (PTA), or skull fracture, or objective neurological findings that can be reasonably attributed to TBI as assessed by the study PI 4. Implanted devices for pain control, such as vagal or deep brain stimulators 5. Contraindications to tDCS: * metal in the head * implanted brain medical devices 6. Pregnancy 7. Use of ventilators or ventilation support 8. Complete tetraplegic lesion (no motor function in the arms) (C3 to C8) as we will be measuring the motor evoked potential in the FDI (upper limbs); only tetraplegic patients with incomplete functional status and also as defined by the ability to elicit MEP in the FDI will be able to participate in this study
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01404065