Prospective Evaluation of Reverse End to Side Anterior Interosseous Nerve to Ulnar Nerve Transfer for Severe Compressive Ulnar Neuropathy at the Elbow

November 2, 2018 updated by: Lawson Health Research Institute
Ulnar nerve compression at the elbow is a common problem and can significantly affect hand function in severe cases. The current, standard treatment is Ulnar nerve decompression with or without transposition (moving the ulnar nerve to a site where there is less compression). In severe compression, the clinical results after this surgery are typically poor. Distal transfers of functioning nerves (at the level of the wrist) to the compressed ulnar nerve (anterior interosseous nerve to ulnar motor fascicles) have been suggested to "supercharge" or augment hand muscles while nerve axons regenerate from the level of the elbow after decompression/transposition. In fact, this treatment is becoming widely adopted without clear evidence that it changes outcomes. The investigators propose to prospectively compare the effectiveness of ulnar nerve decompression/transposition versus decompression/transposition and distal nerve transfer.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

The purpose of this study is to prospectively compare the outcomes of patients with severe (intrinsic hand muscle dysfunction) compressive ulnar neuropathy at the elbow treated with ulnar nerve decompression and subcutaneous transposition alone versus ulnar nerve decompression with subcutaneous transposition and AIN to ulnar nerve reverse end-to-side transfer. The study objectives of this project are the following: 1. To prospectively compare the clinical outcomes of patients with severe ulnar neuropathy at the elbow who receive ulnar nerve decompression with subcutaneous transposition and AIN to ulnar motor reverse end-to-side nerve transfer versus decompression and subcutaneous transposition alone. 2. To prospectively compare the electrophysiologic outcomes (nerve conduction studies and EMG) of patients with severe ulnar neuropathy at the elbow who receive ulnar nerve decompression with subcutaneous transposition and AIN to ulnar motor reverse end-to-side nerve transfer versus decompression and subcutaneous transposition alone.

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.
40

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 3

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

18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patients (greater than 18 years) with severe compressive ulnar nerve neuropathy (McGowan grade III) at the elbow who consent to either ulnar nerve decompression with transposition alone or ulnar nerve decompression with transposition plus nerve transfer.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients under the age of 18 and over 70.
  • Patients with ulnar neuropathy at multiple anatomic locations along the course of the nerve.
  • Patients with mild to moderate ulnar neuropathy (McGowan grade I and II).

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 Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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.
Experimental: Reverse End-to-side
Surgery: a "reverse" end-to-side AIN to ulnar nerve transfer whereby the motor branch of the ulnar is left intact and the end of the AIN nerve is coapted to the side of the ulnar motor fascicle(5,6). The advantage of this technique is it preserves the continuity of the ulnar motor branch for axons if they do eventually reinnervate the intrinsic muscles while augmenting or "babysitting" these muscles during the time period until this occurs.
Procedure: Surgery:ulnar nerve subcutaneous transposition without AIN to ulnar nerve transfer.
Other Names:
  • standard care
Active Comparator: Surgery:standard care
Surgery: the anterior interosseous (AIN) to motor branch of the ulnar nerve transfer has been established as an effective means to reinnervate ulnar innervated intrinsic hand muscles (without loss of function from using the AIN) when nerve injury is too proximal for recovering axons to reach the hand by 18 months. . The procedure (surgery) is presently the standard of care
Procedure: Surgery:ulnar nerve transposition with AIN to ulnar nerve transfer
Other Names:
  • experimental

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
pain scores on the numeric pain rating scale
Time Frame: one year
The patient-rated ulnar nerve evaluation (PRUNE)
one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
evaluation of reinnvervation of hand intrinsic muscles
Time Frame: one year
Electromyography (EMG)
one year
functional performance assessment on the numeric scale
Time Frame: one year
The patient-rated ulnar nerve evaluation (PRUNE); Michigan hand outcome questionnaire
one year

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.
Lawson Health Research Institute

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Dr Christopher Doherty
Dr Thomas Miller

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.

General Publications

  • 1. McGowan AJ. The Results of Transposition of the Ulnar Nerve for Traumatic Ulnar Neuritis. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 32B (3): 293-301, 1950. 2. Macadam SA, Gandhi R, Bezuhly M et al. Simple Decompression Versus Anterior Subcutaneous and Submuscular Transposition of the Ulnar Nerve for Cubital Tunnel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Hand Surgery (Am), 33A: 1314-1324, 2008. 3. Chung KC. Treatment of Ulnar Nerve Compression at the Elbow. Journal of Hand Surgery (Am), 33A: 1625-1627, 2008. 4. Haase SC and Chung KC. Anterior Interosseous Nerve Transfer to the Motor Branch of the Ulnar Nerve for High Ulnar Nerve Injuries. Annals of Plastic Surgery, 49: 285-290, 2002. 5. Barbour J, Yee A, Kahn LC and Mackinnon SE. Supercharged End-to-Side Anterior Interosseous to Ulnar Motor Nerve Transfer for Intrinsic Musculature Reinnervation. Journal of Hand Surgery (Am), 37A: 2150-2159, 2012. 6. Kale SS, Glaus SW, Yee A et al. Reverse End-to-Side Nerve Transfer: From Animal Model to Clinical Use. Journal of Hand Surgery (Am), 36A: 1631-1639, 2011. 7. Isaacs J. Supercharged End-to-Side Nerve Transfer: Too Soon for "Prime Time"? Journal of Hand Surgery (Am), 38A: 617-618, 2013.

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 (Actual)

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.
January 1, 2015

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.
October 1, 2015

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.
October 1, 2016

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).
September 22, 2014

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.
October 30, 2014

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.
November 2, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
November 6, 2018

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.
November 2, 2018

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.
November 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • 7126

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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