- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT00059553
Retraining Walking After Spinal Cord Injury
Activity-Dependent Plasticity After Spinal Cord Injury
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Conventional rehabilitation following spinal cord injury (SCI) emphasizes functional gains through strengthening and compensation, using braces and assistive devices to achieve mobility. Rehabilitation practice using compensatory approaches is based on the prevailing assumption that neural recovery is not possible following SCI.
Recent evidence contradicts this assumption. Stimulated by the proper activation of peripheral afferents associated with walking, neuronal circuits may reorganize by strengthening of existing and previously inactive descending connections and local neural circuits. New approaches to locomotor recovery after SCI utilize sensory information related to locomotion to improve treadmill and overground walking.
Locomotor training velocity may be a critical, task-specific, and activity-dependent parameter affording appropriate phasic, afferent input to the neural system and promoting neural plasticity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of training velocity in a long-term locomotor training program on both neurophysiological and behavioral plasticity in individuals with incomplete SCI.
Sixteen patients with incomplete SCI will be recruited to participate in this study. Baseline evaluations will include American Spinal Injury Association classification, rate-sensitive depression, phase-dependent H-reflex modulation at self-selected and fast overground walking velocities, and MRI of the spine. Patients will wear a step activity monitor for a 48-hour period, quantifying baseline walking activity level.
All patients will participate in a locomotor training program. Patients will be randomly assigned to either training at self-selected treadmill velocity or at a normal walking velocity. Patients will have 45 training sessions over 9 weeks. Each training session will include 30 minutes of walking. Interim testing of rated depression, spatial-temporal parameters of walking, MRI, and walking activity will occur through the 9-week training period. Post-testing will occur within 2 days of the last training session and at a 1 month after completion of the training. During the month following long-term training, patients will be instructed to return to their self-selected routine activities of daily living.
Study Type
Enrollment
Phase
- Phase 2
- Phase 3
Contacts and Locations
Study Locations
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Florida
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Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610
- University of Florida
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Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Genders Eligible for Study
Description
Inclusion criteria:
- First time spinal cord injury (SCI) from trauma, vascular, or orthopedic pathology at cervical or thoracic levels
- Category C or D SCI as defined by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale
- 1 to 3 years post-SCI
- Ability to walk independently a minimum of 40 feet with or without an assistive device
- Currently spending a minimum of 30 minutes per day walking
- No change in anti-spasticity medication during the study
- Medically stable
- Participant's personal physician must verify the participant's medical status
Exclusion criteria:
- Bladder infection, decubiti, osteoporosis, cardiopulmonary disease, pain, or other significant medical complications that would prohibit or interfere with training and testing of walking function or alter compliance with a training protocol
- Currently participating in a rehabilitation program or another research protocol that could interfere or influence the outcome measures of the current study
- Congenital SCI (e.g., Chiari malformation, myelomeningocele, intraspinal neoplasm, Frederich's ataxia)
- Other degenerative spinal disorders (e.g., spinocerebellar degeneration, syringomyelia) that may complicate the treatment or evaluation procedures
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Treatment
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: None (Open Label)
Collaborators and Investigators
Collaborators
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Andrea L Behrman, PhD, University of Florida
Publications and helpful links
General Publications
- Behrman AL, Harkema SJ. Locomotor training after human spinal cord injury: a series of case studies. Phys Ther. 2000 Jul;80(7):688-700.
- Barbeau H, Norman K, Fung J, Visintin M, Ladouceur M. Does neurorehabilitation play a role in the recovery of walking in neurological populations? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 Nov 16;860:377-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09063.x.
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start
Study Completion
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Estimate)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Estimate)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- K01HD001348 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
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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