CCEF in the Treatment of Acute VFFs: Randomized Controlled Trial

March 24, 2023 updated by: Davide Bizzoca, University of Bari Aldo Moro

Capacitively Coupled Electric Fields in the Treatment of Acute Vertebral Fragility Fractures

in recent years the search for therapeutic protocols that could enhance the VFFs healing, thus reducing bed rest-related complications and improving the quality of life of osteoporotic patients. In this context, biophysical stimulation with Capacitively Coupling Electric Fields (CCEF) together, antiresorptive therapy, vitamin D supplementation, and analgesic drugs could play a central role.

CCEF is a non-invasive type of biophysical stimulation used to enhance fracture repair and spinal fusion. Positive effects of CCEF have been reported in osteoporotic vertebral fractures to resolve chronic pain and in postoperative pain, disability, and quality of life after spinal fusion In a preliminary observational study, Piazzolla et al. showed a significantly faster VBME resolution and back pain improvement in patients suffering from VFFs.

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

Between January 2015 and December 2020, patients referring to the spine centres participating in this multicentre randomized controlled trial with acute VFFs type OF1 or OF2 were included in the present study. Ethical clearance was obtained from our centre's clinical research ethics, as per the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki, and all patients gave informed consent before enrolment in the study.

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.
70

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.
  • Not Applicable

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

60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • male and female;
  • years≥ 60 years old;
  • BMI ≤ 35 kg/cm2;
  • fracture site between T10 and L3;
  • pain at the VCF level;
  • low back pain onset within twenty days;
  • VBME>60% in MRI at baseline;
  • VBME in a maximum of two vertebral bodies.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • posterior wall /pedicle injury;
  • previous vertebroplasty/ kyphoplasty;
  • history of spine infection or tuberculosis;
  • history of malignant tumours that could spread to the spine;
  • concomitant rheumatoid arthritis or spondylarthritis;
  • scoliosis ≥ 40° according to Cobb;
  • thoracolumbar kyphosis>20° or thoracic kyphosis>70°;
  • any contraindication to MRI;
  • use of biomedical devices.

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: Single

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: CCEF group

In the CCEF Group, patients received, as an adjunct to the clinical study protocol, CCEF stimulation (Osteospine®, IGEA SpA, Carpi, Italy) 8 h/die for sixty days.

Clinical study protocol: (1) bed rest for the first twenty-five days and subsequent mobilization with a three-point hyperextension brace; (2) antiresorptive therapy (75 mg risedronate tablet weekly); (3) supplemental calcium carbonate with 1000 mg of elemental calcium daily if needed based on serum calcium concentration; (4) Vitamin D (≤500 IU daily) if the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration at the time of screening was below 16 ng/ml). Analgesic therapy with paracetamol 1000mg tablets was assumed for seven days and further depending on pain intensity; patients were required to report on a specific sheet paracetamol assumption.
Device: Capacitive Coupled Electric Fields (CCEF)
In the CCEF Group, patients received, as an adjunct to the clinical study protocol, CCEF stimulation (Osteospine®, IGEA SpA, Carpi, Italy) 8 h/die for sixty days.
Other: Control Group
(1) bed rest for the first twenty-five days and subsequent mobilization with a three-point hyperextension brace; (2) antiresorptive therapy (75 mg risedronate tablet weekly); (3) supplemental calcium carbonate with 1000 mg of elemental calcium daily if needed based on serum calcium concentration; (4) Vitamin D (≤500 IU daily) if the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration at the time of screening was below 16 ng/ml). Analgesic therapy with paracetamol 1000mg tablets was assumed for seven days and further depending on pain intensity; patients were required to report on a specific sheet paracetamol assumption.
Other: Calssic clinical protocol
(1) bed rest for the first twenty-five days and subsequent mobilization with a three-point hyperextension brace; (2) antiresorptive therapy (75 mg risedronate tablet weekly); (3) supplemental calcium carbonate with 1000 mg of elemental calcium daily if needed based on serum calcium concentration; (4) Vitamin D (≤500 IU daily) if the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration at the time of screening was below 16 ng/ml). Analgesic therapy with paracetamol 1000mg tablets was assumed for seven days and further depending on pain intensity; patients were required to report on a specific sheet paracetamol assumption.

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
VBME resolution in MRI
Time Frame: Changes of VMBE at 60 days FU
MRI of the spine
Changes of VMBE at 60 days FU

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
Pain improvement
Time Frame: Changes of pain at 180 days FU compared to baseline
VAS
Changes of pain at 180 days FU compared to baseline
quality of life and back pain improvement
Time Frame: Improvement of quality of life at 180 days FU compared to baseline
ODI (Oswestry Disability Index)
Improvement of quality of life at 180 days FU compared to baseline

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.
University of Bari Aldo Moro

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.
IGEA

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: Davide Bizzoca, MD, PhDs, AOU Policlinico di Bari

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.
November 30, 2020

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 31, 2020

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).
March 11, 2023

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.
March 24, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

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.
April 7, 2023

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.
April 7, 2023

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.
March 24, 2023

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.
March 1, 2023

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.
  • CCEFVBME

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings