Transcranial Stimulation (tDCS) For the Treatment of Neuropathic Facial Pain (TDCS)

December 9, 2015 updated by: Beth Israel Medical Center

Transcranial Stimulation (TDCS) For The Treatment of Neuropathic Facial Pain.

A study to determine if transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS, the device that regulates brain activity, can improve pain in people with neuropathic facial pain and compare which modality (inhibitory tDCS over the somatosensory cortex or excitatory tDCS over the motor cortex) can result in better pain-relief.)

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This is a pilot study designed to collect preliminary data on safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)to relieve pain in subjects with neuropathic facial pain,and to compare two pain-treatment tDCS modalities: inhibitory tDCS stimulation over the somatosensory cortex and excitatory tDCS over the motor cortex.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
21

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10033
        • Beth Israel Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Spontaneous facial neuropathic pain due to any of following:

    1. Trigeminal neuralgia, type 1, (TN1): facial pain of spontaneous onset with predominantly episodic pain.
    2. Trigeminal neuralgia, type 2, (TN2): facial pain of spontaneous onset with predominantly constant pain.
    3. Trigeminal neuropathic pain, (TNP): facial pain resulting from unintentional injury to the trigeminal system from facial trauma, oral surgery, ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery, root injury from posterior fossa or skull base surgery, stroke, etc.
    4. Trigeminal deafferentation pain, (TDP): facial pain in a region of trigeminal numbness resulting from intentional injury to the trigeminal system from neurectomy, gangliolysis, rhizotomy, nucleotomy, tractotomy, or other denervating procedures.
    5. Symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia, (STN): facial pain resulting from multiple sclerosis.

    e) Postherpetic neuralgia, (PHN): facial pain resulting from trigeminal Herpes zoster (shingles) outbreak in the trigeminal distribution.

  • Pain intensity score for "worst pain in the last 24 hours" >4 on a numeric scale 0-10 at the time of enrollment and before the first stimulation of each treatment block.
  • Pain intensity score for "pain right now" >4 on a numeric scale 0-10 before the first stimulation of each block of treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Uncontrolled hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled cardiovascular disease
  • Other painful conditions than neuropathic facial pain, that are not related to and can't be distinguished from the neuropathic facial pain
  • Pregnancy
  • Implanted neurostimulation devices (e.g. a spinal cord stimulator, a deep brain stimulator, etc)
  • Active illegal drug/alcohol abuse
  • Unable to follow directions or complete tools in English.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Group A: Anodal tDCS
Group A will receive one block of real excitatory anodal tDCS over the motor cortex and one block of sham.
Device: tDCS
TDCS/sham will be delivered using the battery-operated device Phoresor II Auto with two saline-soaked sponge electrodes. To deliver excitatory (anodal) tDCS over the motor cortex, the main electrode will be placed over the motor cortex on the hemisphere contralateral to the major source of pain. The second electrode will be placed on the skin overlying the supraorbital region ipsilateral to the affected area. To deliver inhibitory (cathodal) tDCS, the main electrode will be placed over the somatosensory cortex on the hemisphere contralateral to the major source of pain. The second electrode will be placed on the skin overlying the supraorbital region ipsilateral to the affected area. The current will be delivered at the intensity of 2mA for 20 minutes. To deliver sham, the current will be delivered for 30 sec only to elicit tingling skin sensation but no cortical excitability changes.
SHAM_COMPARATOR: Arm B: Cathodal tDCS
Group B will receive one block of inhibitory cathodal tDCS over the somatosensory cortex and one block of sham.
Device: tDCS
TDCS/sham will be delivered using the battery-operated device Phoresor II Auto with two saline-soaked sponge electrodes. To deliver excitatory (anodal) tDCS over the motor cortex, the main electrode will be placed over the motor cortex on the hemisphere contralateral to the major source of pain. The second electrode will be placed on the skin overlying the supraorbital region ipsilateral to the affected area. To deliver inhibitory (cathodal) tDCS, the main electrode will be placed over the somatosensory cortex on the hemisphere contralateral to the major source of pain. The second electrode will be placed on the skin overlying the supraorbital region ipsilateral to the affected area. The current will be delivered at the intensity of 2mA for 20 minutes. To deliver sham, the current will be delivered for 30 sec only to elicit tingling skin sensation but no cortical excitability changes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Primary outcome will be a composite measure "Pain intensity/consumption of pain medication".
Time Frame: Daily from Baseline to up to 17 weeks
The washout period between phase I and phase II of the study is variable as patients have to go back to their baseline.
Daily from Baseline to up to 17 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Beth Israel Medical Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Joy Hao, MD, Beth Israel Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 1, 2010

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2013

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 27, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 6, 2013

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 9, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 10, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 9, 2015

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 148-10

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